


Stay and Burn

by Keggy_Chaos



Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2020-05-31 04:55:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 78,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19418920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keggy_Chaos/pseuds/Keggy_Chaos
Summary: Cardinal Copia transfers to the main Church where you live. He is shy and quiet, and you are almost the polar opposite. However, something about the strange Cardinal pulls you in. As your world begins to fall apart around you, fighting against his pull is the last thing you feel like doing, but maybe you should.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing this fic for a while now, and I finally grew the courage to begin posting it.  
> I only discovered Ghost at the beginning of this year, but I fell and I fell hard (just like Copia off his tricycle).

There was a thunderstorm raging outside, the wind and the rain slammed into the buildings and created such a loud noise that everyone was at least a little unsettled. Older members of the clergy mumbled about never seeing a storm like this before, but most of them had a habit of exaggerating the truth. You’d been sitting by your bedroom window, just watching the rain fall down for at least the past hour. You watch as the rain turned to hail which quickly covered the ground beneath in a thick white carpet. Normally you loved weather like this, but soon you would have to venture out of your bedroom and over to the church with the rest of the Siblings of Sin. The pathway between the dormitory and the church itself was uncovered, and you knew it would only take seconds for you to get soaked to the bone. You didn't want to leave your nice, warm bedroom, but you could only put it off for so long before you wouldn’t get a seat in the church. The idea of being soaked and having to stand for Satan knows how long while Papa Nihil rambled on about something didn’t sound appealing in the slightest. 

It was a Friday night and under normal circumstances the younger Brothers and Sisters of Sin would be preparing for a night of drinking and debauchery in one of the nearby cities. However, it wasn’t a normal Friday night, the thunderstorm notwithstanding. Tonight, a Cardinal would be transferring in from another church. Rumours had been swirling around the church for the past few weeks about the new Cardinal, and now it was all finally coming to a head. Your fellow Brothers and Sisters of Sin had been speculating about everything from how old he would be, to what he would be like in the bedroom. All before even catching a glimpse of the man. If he was handsome, there was a long line of people who were interested, if he wasn’t, the line was considerably shorter, but still there. He was a Cardinal after all, and power was sexy, even if he might not be. That much was made obvious by how many Siblings of Sin still chased after Papa Nihil and his eldest son. 

You pull the largest and warmest coat that you own over your shoulders and make your way over to the church. It is still a little early, so there are plenty of seats to choose from. The first few rows of pews are reserved for Cardinals, their assistants, and other high ranking members of the clergy. Normally you would be sitting with the other assistants, but Cardinal Downs, the Cardinal that you work for was away on business. If he wasn’t there, then you couldn’t take a place amongst the others. The rest of the seats in the church had a free-for-all seating arrangement. You picked a seat on the aisle side of a pew 5 rows back from the stage, it was the perfect spot to get a glimpse of the new Cardinal when he appeared, and it was also perfect for leaving quickly after the welcoming ceremony was completed. 

The church had been decorated in Papa III’s trademark dark purple colours and it made the entire room look beautiful. If nothing else, Papa III had a good eye for beauty. The vibrant colour made a nice change from the usual plain black and also served as a reminder of who was currently leading the church. In the center of the stage there was a large purple upholstered chair which looked more like a throne. Undoubtedly, it was Papa III’s chair. On either side of his chair sat two smaller ones. One belonged to Papa Nihil and the other would temporarily belong to the guest of honour. Papa Nihil’s chair was piled high with plush looking cushions. It certainly looked more comfortable than the church pews that everyone else was forced to sit on. The lights of the church were flickering on and off because of the storm outside. There were a few black candles lit near the altar, but if the power went out, then it wouldn’t be enough to see what was happening. It would be an understatement to say that people would be disappointed if they couldn’t get a decent look at the new transfer. You were curious about the new Cardinal, just like everyone else, but you weren’t that interested. The last Cardinal to transfer in before this one was Cardinal Assange. He is handsome, but he also happens to be the biggest, most antagonistic bastard you had ever come across. He seemed to enjoy always pushing your buttons, so you didn’t hold much hope for this new Cardinal.

Ten minutes before the welcoming ceremony was to begin and finally Brothers and Sisters of Sin began to fill up the church. Everyone else had preferred to wait in the hopes that the storm would calm down, but it seemed that the opposite had happened and everyone around you was completely drenched. Hair sticking to soaked faces and black eyeliner running down cheeks. None of them would be making the first impression on the Cardinal that they wanted to make. The church begins to fill with noise and you feel more people trying to cram onto the pews than there should be. 

At the last minute, Sister Redemptio, your best and longest friend darts into the church and takes a place in the front row. She gives you a wave and a smile as she passes, out of breath. She is Papa III’s personal assistant, so no doubt she had been dealing with some last minute drama before she came. The way she spoke of Papa III made it seem like half the time she adored him, and half the time she wanted to murder him. Judging by her lateness, right now she probably wanted to murder him. 

After a few moments of silence, the ghoul sitting at the large church organ began to play. The doors creaked open and Papa III entered, followed by Papa Nihil and trailing behind was the man that everyone was waiting for. With the lights flickering, it was difficult to see exactly what he looked like. All you could make out was that he was slightly taller than Papa III, when he wasn’t wearing his papal mitre, and that he had dark hair. The Cardinal was wearing a dark red cassock rather than the usual black one which signalled that he was more important than the average Cardinal. The grucifix which lay against his chest glinted in the flickering lights. As he passed each row of pews, Brothers and Sisters all leaned forward trying to get a better look. Papa III walks towards the altar at a leisurely pace, he still has adoring fans to keep happy. Gracing them with a smile or a wink as he passes. They may be interested in the new Cardinal, but there was no doubt in Papa III’s mind that they return to him. Papa III knew how to inspire loyalty better than anyone else you have ever come across. 

Papa III finally takes his place, standing at the altar while Papa Nihil and the Cardinal take their seats. Papa III begins his speech. It centers around the theme of new beginnings, second chances and rebirth. He is eloquent and captivating as usual, there isn’t anyone in the entire church who isn’t hanging on his every word. At times like these, even you get captivated by Papa III. You force your eyes away from Papa III and to the new Cardinal. He is sitting back in his seat, the shadows enveloping most of his body. It was frustrating how little of him you could see. 

Papa III ends his speech to thunderous applause, he bows low in appreciation but his mitre never falls from his head. Papa III and Papa Nihil pass each other as Papa Nihil takes centerstage. The old man lifts his oxygen mask up to his mouth and takes in a deep breath. 

“I would like to introduce you all to Cardinal Copia,” Papa Nihil says. He inhales from his oxygen tank again. “The Cardinal has transferred here from another branch in Tuscany. He is our new Latin expert, but will also be performing many other duties as my Manus Dextra. Cardinal, please come forward and introduce yourself.” 

As Cardinal Copia steps forward out of the shadows, the entire church plunges into darkness. The only light which makes it into the room comes from the full moon outside and the occasional flash of lightning. The full moon shines behind the Cardinal, showing only the outline of his body while his features remain cast in darkness. You had to admit, it was a hell of a way to be introduced. Everything had aligned so nicely that even Papa III would have to admit to being jealous of such a foreboding introduction. 

“Power’s out!” a male voice shouts from the church doorway. “Won’t be back on for a while.” 

“Introduce yourself anyway Cardinal,” you hear Papa Nihil say.

The storm is getting louder outside and hearing the Cardinal speak becomes increasingly difficult. You can only make out a few words in each sentence that he speaks. He says something about being excited to be here, but there isn’t a hint of excitement in his voice. If anything, he sounds incredibly nervous. His speech ends abruptly, the Cardinal apparently running out of things to say. 

The church all rise in unison for a couple of songs in praise of Satan signalling the end of the ceremony. Papa III leads, his voice captivating as it washes over the masses.  
After Papa III, Papa Nihil and Cardinal Copia all exit the church, everyone else is dismissed. Everyone jostles each other out of the way, all eager to chase after either Papa III or Cardinal Copia. Sister Redemptio has followed quickly after Papa III, so you would have to wait until tomorrow to find out what had happened. You had wanted to leave the church quickly after the ceremony had ended, but watching as your Siblings of Sin all squashed out of the door at the same time made you change your mind. You wait until you are almost the last person in the church before you leave. The rain has stopped completely now, but as you cast your eyes over the dormitory building it is obvious that the power there has been knocked out as well. You hope that it doesn’t stay off for too much longer, it’s too cold to go without heating tonight. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You were making your way back to your room when someone darting around the corner in front of you caught your eye. The person was wearing a red cassock, so you guessed that it had to be Cardinal Copia. Apparently he was hiding from his adoring audience that were waiting for him just around the corner. His shoulders were tense and he seemed to be slightly hunched over in an attempt to make himself smaller and less noticeable. It wouldn’t last for long. The bright red of his cassock would make him very easy to find, even when the emergency lights were flickering on and off. 

A shriek of laughter came from the groups of Sisters around the corner and you could see the Cardinal flinch. You watch as he rests his head against the wall and mutters something to himself. He doesn’t want to go out there, but for some reason he needs to. Another high pitched round of giggling emanates from the room and again the Cardinal flinches.  
The church in Tuscany where he transferred from must be very small. He probably wasn’t used to all of the overwhelming sounds that the headquarters was home to. When you first arrived, you had felt a similar way. It had always felt like there were too many people making far too much noise. You had been timid, untrusting and suspicious of everyone, but eventually you came out of your shell. You couldn’t pull this Cardinal out of his shell, but you could help him, at least a little. 

“Cardinal Copia, sir?” you call out as quietly as possible. 

The man stiffens completely, horrified that his hiding place had been discovered. He turns around to face you slowly, but he doesn’t take his eyes off the floor. “Yes Sister?”  
You take a quick moment to study what you can see of his face in the darkness. He was exceedingly pale and you could just make out and old fashioned pencil moustache sitting on his face. It was difficult to tell whether or not he was good looking in such bad lighting. Not that it really mattered to you, you weren’t interested in a relationship now or in the foreseeable future. 

“You might not want to go that way, there are a lot of people waiting to,” you paused, thinking of the nicest well to tell him what they would ask, “well, to bombard you with personal questions.”

His face paled, and you can hear his breathing begins to speed up. The poor shy man was starting to panic. “I just want to go to bed,” he mumbles with a sigh, “I’m not even that interesting.”

“Which floor is your room on?” you ask before realising how forward it sounded. “Maybe I can help you find another way there?” you added in an attempt to save yourself.

“Fourth floor. West wing.”

You tapped your finger on your chin as you thought of the best route around the rabid Siblings of Sin. “The easiest way to avoid everyone would be to go to the end of this corridor, then take the stairs to level 2. Turn left and go to the end of that corridor. That’ll take you right above them,” you said gesturing behind the Cardinal. “After that you have to find the east staircase and that’s the fastest way to the fourth floor from here. It’s a bit of a pain in the ass, but I think you will prefer it to the alternative.” 

The Cardinal nodded, but he still seemed to be a little lost and overwhelmed by his predicament. He was wringing his hands together and you could hear the leather of his gloves creaking. He seemed to be rather helpless for someone who was supposed to be so high up in the Church. 

“I can show you, if you want. This place can be a like a maze, especially at night.” 

“Yes please Sister, if you wouldn’t mind.” 

You smile at him. He may act helpless, but at least he was polite. That would be a nice change of pace from many of the other Cardinals that strutted about the place. “Follow me then,” you said turning on your heel and taking off down the corridor. 

The Cardinal followed along behind you in complete silence. He seemed to calm down a lot more now that he was away from all the noise. Around most people you usually felt an urge to fill the silence, always finding it uncomfortable, but with Cardinal Copia you didn’t feel the weight of the silence like you normally did.  
Eventually, he falls into step with you as he glances at the paintings of past Papas that grace the walls as you pass them. He pulls a face at the painting of the youngest, Papa Emeritus III. You catch his eyes and smile at him, letting him know that you caught him.  
Cardinal Copia blushes and looks away, “he’s a little... overbearing isn’t he?”

“He’s a little diva, but he inspires devotion amongst the masses, so I guess that is what is important. Though, to be perfectly honest, I’m surprised he hasn’t commissioned a shirtless picture of himself yet.” 

The Cardinal laughs and you instantly decide that you like the sound. 

“Please don’t repeat that to him, I don’t want to spend the rest of my days scrubbing toilets with my own toothbrush,” you say. 

He doesn’t say anything, just nods at you. You assume that means your secret is safe. Cardinal Copia is a difficult man to read, but he certainly didn’t seem like the type to run to Papa III and get you in trouble. 

You both continue to walk together in silence. You could feel the Cardinal looking over at you every so often, but he would look away before you could catch him properly. The feeling of being watched was beginning to annoy you, but you didn’t want to snap at him. He was timid enough. The sound of his gloved fingers creaking together nervously was the only thing that permeated the silence. He exhaled loudly and you looked at him, your eyebrow raised. 

“Aren’t you going to uh, bombard me with questions?” he asked. His voice was full of uncertainty. He didn’t want you to ask him anything, but it seemed like the past few minutes he had been mentally preparing for your onslaught. 

“Nah, I’ll be kind and save that for next time,” you wink at him. 

“Very courteous of you,” he agrees with a nod. He is joking, but you can feel the relief sweep over his body. His shoulders drop a little, no longer so rigid and straight. He isn’t relaxed around you by any means, but he seems less terrified of you. 

“You’re going to avoid me like the plague from now on, aren’t you?”

He places his hand over his heart, “I would never!” he says in fake outrage. Comfortable enough, for now, to joke with you. 

You burst into laughter, not expecting him to make you laugh so quickly. For the first time, he finally looks up at you and you could see his face properly. He was blushing, a red tinge covering his face all over. His eyes were striking and mismatched, just like the Papa’s. One was a gentle green and the other was a stark white. You had never seen anyone outside of the papal bloodline with those distinct eyes. His beautiful eyes were rimmed with what you guessed was black makeup. He was certainly an interesting sight. He wasn’t pretty in the way that Papa III was, but you considered him to be handsome in a way that was distinct to him. He wouldn’t be to the taste of most of your fellow Siblings of Sin, which was lucky for him. He really didn’t seem to enjoy the attention he was creating. 

As you turned the next corner, you were finally on the correct floor for the Cardinal’s room. You didn’t press him for the details of exactly which room was yours, even if you could sell the information to someone, you wouldn’t. You had already decided that you liked Cardinal Copia, so you would help him whenever you could.  
“This is your floor Cardinal,” you announce, “so I’ll just leave you here. Unless you need anything else from me?”

“T-Thank you Sister?” 

“My name is Sister Desiderata.” Normally you would have been expected to take his hand and kiss the rings that signified his ranking. However, Cardinal Copia didn’t hold his hand out to you in expectation, so you ignored protocol. He didn’t seem like the type who would berate you for it later. In fact, he didn’t seem like the type to berate anyone at all. 

“Thank you Sister Desiderata, you’ve been most helpful.” 

“You should take the same path tomorrow morning before breakfast, but don’t take it too often or they’ll figure out that you are avoiding them and they’ll probably camp outside your office instead,” you explain. “Once they find out where it is.”

“Merciful Satan,” he whispered under his breath.

“You’re new and interesting. Maybe if you can avoid them completely for a couple of months, some of them will get bored, but I wouldn’t count on it if I were you.” 

“Months?” he asked incredulously. 

You nod at him, “I don’t mean to upset you Cardinal, but people here are known for their persistence.” 

He let out an exasperated sounding sigh, “I’m not even interesting.” 

“That just makes you mysterious,” you say wiggling your fingers dramatically, “and unfortunately for you, all the more interesting.”

He let out a deep sigh, “wonderful,” he says sarcastically. He couldn’t look less enthused about his situation if he tried. The next few weeks were going to be terrible for the poor guy. 

“I guess that you will have an assistant assigned to you later, but if you need anything in the meantime, you can always ask me,” you offer, trying to give him something positive to think about. You’re glad that you are the one who came across Cardinal Copia, rather than a different Sister of Sin. There was no denying that he was the shy and nervous type, the type that would get eaten alive in a matter of seconds. Maybe he had some kind of hidden talent, but from what you have seen so far, it perplexes you that he is so high ranking. 

“T-Thank you Sister,” he says. 

“Goodnight Cardinal Copia,” you say as you begin to make your way back the way you had come. 

“Goodnight Sister Desiderata.”


	2. Chapter 2

You are sat at one of the breakfast tables in the dining hall, babysitting Sister Griseo’s youngest daughter, Anna. It wasn’t exactly a job befitting your rank within the clergy, but you didn’t mind so much. You liked children, and having come from a family of so many, looking after them was an easy task. The girl was around 4 years old and she was currently colouring in a picture of Baphomet that you had drawn for her. The higher ranking members of the clergy probably wouldn’t like to see a beloved dark god being coloured in pink, but you weren’t going to stop her. There were far worse things she could be doing after all. 

The weather has changed dramatically from yesterday and the sunlight streams in from the large windows. The storm last night had felt oddly ominous and heavy, but now everything seems to be back to normal. You turn your face up towards the sun, closing your eyes and allowing a peaceful feeling to wash over you. You feel your hair slip back behind your ear, but quick as a flash you snatch the stray strands back up and return them to covering your left eye. You had a scar running through that eye and the last thing that you wanted was to scare little Anna, or anyone else, so you always kept it covered. You could see perfectly fine out of it, but you didn’t like the stares and whispers that it seemed to invite from people who should know better. 

Someone clears their throat behind you and you turn around, expecting Sister Griseo. Instead you see Cardinal Copia standing behind you. His hands were clasped behind his back and he looked slightly nervous. He was wearing his black cassock and biretta today, you guessed that it was in an attempt to blend in. You hadn’t seen the Cardinal at breakfast, but you had heard ridiculous rumours swirling around about him already. Some had even joked that Cardinal Copia had been the cause of the storm. Everyone wants a piece of him, but apparently you were the only one outside of the higher ranking members that had had the chance to speak to him yet. 

“Good morning Your Eminence,” you say as you hurriedly stand up and bow to him.

“Good morning Sister, eh, um…” he trails off.

“Sister Desiderata.”

“Yes, yes, Sister Desiderata, I’m sorry that I forgot your name so quickly.” He looks genuinely ashamed with himself. 

“Please don’t apologise Cardinal Copia, I am sure that you’ve met many people since yesterday,” you reply giving him a smile. “Forgetting the name of one sister is fine.”

Cardinal Copia nods sheepishly in agreement. “Is she yours?” he asks pointing to Anna in an attempt to make conversation. 

“No, I’m just watching over her while her mother does some work,” you tell the Cardinal. “Anna, say hello to Cardinal Copia please.”

The little girl looks up from her colouring, “hello,” she says before directing her attention back to her picture. 

“Please take a seat Cardinal,” you say gesturing to the bench you had been sitting on earlier. “How are you settling in? Is there anything that I can help you with?” you ask.

Cardinal Copia sits down and you follow closely afterwards. His shoulders are hunched up and he seems tense, just like last night. You do your best to follow protocol, keeping a respectable distance from the Cardinal. You didn’t want to give Cardinal Copia the wrong impression about you, you didn’t need another Cardinal who didn’t like you.

“This place is much bigger than I remember, “ he says, finally breaking the silence. His eyes trail slowly around the dinning hall, seeming to take in every little detail and storing it away for later. “Cardinal Assange is supposed to meet me here to give me the grand tour.”

“Ah, I see,” you say, “then I should probably hide Anna’s colouring before Cardinal Assange arrives.”

“No, don’t worry about it,” Cardinal Copia says. “There are far worse things than a child colouring Baphomet pink to be worried about.” 

You hesitated for a moment, Cardinal Assange and you weren’t exactly on good terms at the best of times. If he could find something to reprimand you for, he would. However, Cardinal Copia and Cardinal Assange had the same rank, so you decided that it was safe. 

The church bells chime the new hour loudly through the dining hall. The Cardinal jumps slightly at the unexpected sound. 

“It would seem that Cardinal Assange is late,” Cardinal Copia says quietly. He looks down at this hands, twisting his fingers together again. 

“When was he supposed to meet you?”

An odd sound came from Cardinal Copia, “uhhh, about an hour ago.”

You raise an eyebrow at the Cardinal, “would you like me to go and get him?”

“No, no, it is fine. He must be very busy, wouldn’t want to interrupt him. I should be able to find my own way around just fine.” The wavering tone of his voice suggested otherwise. If he got lost, there was no telling who would be the one to find him, but there intentions probably wouldn’t be the nicest as far as the nervous man was concerned. 

“Would you like me to show you around instead? I usually work for Cardinal Downs, but he is away on a business trip to Germany so I have plenty of free time until he comes back.”

Cardinal Copia looked at you, his eyebrows were knitted together in concern. “If you are sure that I will not cause you any inconvenience Sister, it would be wonderful.”

You smile at him, trying to be as reassuring as possible, this Cardinal was certainly different to the others around here. Maybe it was just because he was in an unfamiliar place surrounded by people he didn’t know, but he did seem rather nervous for someone who was so highly ranked. He didn't seem to have the type of personality that was usually favoured for promotion to the higher ranks. However, judging by most of the other Cardinals, you couldn’t help but see Cardinal Copia’s strangeness as a good thing.   
“It would be my pleasure Cardinal Copia. We just have to wait for 10 minutes or so for Sister Griseo to come and collect Anna.”

While you waited for Sister Griseo to appear, you asked the Cardinal what he wanted to see and made mental notes and planned out the best route for the afternoon. He clearly already knew where the dining room, his private quarters and his office were, so that saved you some time. He wanted to see almost everything, but he was most interested in seeing the old west library and the new east library. He seemed quite excited by the idea of having two different large libraries to spend time in. After a few minutes of planning, Sister Griseo showed up to collect her daughter. Her eyes were wide and she stopped in her tracks when she realised that the man sitting next to you was an unfamiliar Cardinal. 

“Good afternoon Sister Griseo,” you said waving at her, trying to encourage her to come closer. The Sister was a newer member of the church and as such, she was slightly skittish around higher ranking members. 

Cautiously she approached, “good afternoon Cardinal, Sister Desiderata,” she said quietly. She didn’t dare to look up at the Cardinal as she bowed low, almost bent in half at the waist. Your bowing hadn’t been that deep, but maybe that is what you should have done as well? Oh well, it didn’t matter now. 

At that moment Cardinal Copia should have stood to introduce himself, but he remained seated, his eyes everywhere but looking at Sister Griseo. He just nodded at her in acknowledgement rather than saying anything. It was obviously a nervous gesture to you, but to other people he may come across stuck up. 

You decided to speak up instead, “This is Cardinal Copia, the new transfer from Tuscany. Cardinal Copia, this is Sister Griseo. She works in the high school associated with our church.” 

The both nodded awkwardly at each other before Sister Griseo snapped out of her anxiety first. “Cardinal Copia, I hope that Anna hasn’t caused you any trouble,” Sister Griseo said. She bowed again to avoid making eye contact as well as to show her respect. 

“No, no! She is a quiet girl. Very good at colouring in,” Cardinal Copia said, “it all stays inside the lines.”

“Thank you for your kind words Your Eminence,” Sister Griseo said. She delicately picked up her daughter, “thank you for your help Sister,” she added bowing to you. 

“Anytime!” you reply. Anna was a good little girl who always did whatever you asked, so looking after her was an easy task. Some of the other children you had looked after acted more like ghouls children than humans sometimes.

Sister Griseo left the dining hall with Anna so quickly that it was almost like she was running. Now you were completely alone with the new Cardinal. He was wringing his fingers together nervously again. You want him to be comfortable around you, but you guess that sort of thing will take time. The only way to get him to understand that you weren’t to be feared was to show him. 

“Shall we go Cardinal?” you say standing up.

He doesn’t say anything, just nods and follows after you. As the two of you toured the Cathedral grounds, you fell into somewhat comfortable conversation. At first it was difficult to get more than a single word answer out of him, but slowly he seemed to relax around you and open up a little more. So far, the new Cardinal seemed like a nice enough guy, you hoped that he remained that way. He didn’t reveal all that much information about himself except that at some point he had gone to university and he gave the impression that he was highly educated. The Cardinal didn’t mention exactly what he had studied, nor did he mention to what level, but it was obvious that he had spent a lot of time at university. Normally that would have made you feel inadequate, but he wasn’t bragging about he smart he was, he was merely stating facts. He told you that after he had graduated, he had been sent off to various different branches of the church in different countries. Cardinal Copia had worked exceedingly hard, helping to spread the word of Lucifer. As a result, he had lived in many countries across Europe, he had even spent some time in China at one point. 

The more that he spoke about his travels, the more you wanted to hear. You had always wanted to travel, but so far, you hadn’t risen to a position in the Church that had allowed for such a thing. Business trips still seemed to be reserved for those who held the rank of Priest or Cardinal, the vast majority of whom happened to be male. Sure, you were the personal assistant to Cardinal Downs, but it was up to the discretion of each Cardinal whether or not they would take their assistants with them on business trips and so far Downs hadn’t taken you anywhere. 

You shared with the Cardinal that you had run away from home at the age of 15 because of what you described as irreconcilable differences with your family’s way of life. It was completely true, but you deliberately left out the finer details of exactly why you left. Maybe one day if the Cardinal became a friend, you would explain further, but for now, your secrets were yours to keep. You told him that you lived on the streets, first by yourself and then later with a friend for a few years before you had been taken in by the church. Ever since that rainy, cold December night, you and your friend, who was now known as Sister Redemptio, had sworn yourselves to serving Lucifer and his church on earth. Cardinal Copia told you that he was glad the church had gained such a dedicated member, even if the circumstances could have been better for you. The Cardinal seemed sincere when he said that, and you couldn’t help but smile at him in return. He was quickly becoming your favourite Cardinal, though that wasn’t necessarily a difficult task. 

Eventually, you both made it to the final stop of the tour, the east library. When you showed Cardinal Copia just how large the library had become, he was in awe of its size. You don’t think that you had ever seen someone look so happy to see a library before. Not even the resident librarian seemed to enjoy the library as much. It quickly became obvious to you that the Cardinal would be spending a lot of time there in the future. As the Cardinal wandered amongst the tall shelves, you decided to take a seat and wait for him to finish. You weren’t used to walking around this much in your new heels and they were beginning to hurt your feet. Sometimes you cursed yourself for feeling the urge to wear heels, but you love the added boost of height. With your heels on you came up to just above Cardinal Copia’s shoulder, but without them, you were obviously shorter than average. You hated the feeling of people always towering over you. 

“Who's your new friend?” someone asked from behind you.

You rolled your eyes as you recognised the voice. It was Sister Pulchra, a Sister of Sin who was particularly fond of gossip. The first and last time you had made the mistake of trusting her with information, it had spread around the church like wildfire. It hadn’t been a particularly scandalous thing that you had told her, but the fact that she couldn’t be trusted remained constantly in the back of your mind.   
“That is Cardinal Copia,” you answered with a bored drawl, turning around to face her. 

“Ohhh,” she replied, her eyes widening in interest. “What’s he like then?” She licked her lips almost as if she wanted to get a taste of him. 

“If you want to know information about him, you''ll just have to ask him yourself,” you say waving your hand at her dismissively. 

Sister Pulchra huffed at you, “you are absolutely no fun you know that? This is why you only have one friend.”

You were about to reply with something less than polite, but you stopped yourself when you saw Cardinal Copia approaching from the shelves behind Sister Pulchra. Letting the Cardinal see how easy it was for certain people to push your buttons wasn’t a good idea. You reigned your anger in and instead gave her your best, and most disingenuous smile. 

“What’s the matter scarface? Cat got your tongue?” 

You made a move to lunge for her, the urge to break her perfect teeth rising inside of your chest. But before you could do anything Cardinal Copia spoke.

“Sister Desiderata, shall we go?” he asked, completely ignoring the existence of the other Sister of Sin. The Cardinal strides passed Sister Pulchra without so much as a second glance, but she can’t keep her eyes off of him. 

You jump up and follow him out, pausing just before the door. “Thanks for the wonderful chat Sister, let’s never do it again.” You turn to her, looking directly into her eyes, “unless of course you want all of your teeth in a pile on the floor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone who left kudos!   
> Let me know what you think


	3. Chapter 3

After you finished showing Cardinal Copia around the grounds, you had escorted him back to his office. Outside of the door a large pile of cardboard boxes had been discarded. The pile was taller than you and looked as if it was very heavy. A bulky looking ghoul came around the corner carrying another large box in his arms. The ghoul was unfamiliar to you and you wondered if he was one of the Cardinal’s personal ghouls. Cardinal Copia must be truly talented if he could summon and bind a ghoul of that size. 

“Thank you Aether,” Cardinal Copia nodded to the ghoul. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the key to his office. The door swings open with a loud creak and the ghoul strides into the room, placing the heavy box on a table in the middle of the room. The Cardinal picks up a box of his own and follows the ghoul into the room. Where the ghoul had made the box seem weightless as he carries it, the Cardinal wasn’t that strong. The box slams onto the table with a heavy thump. 

Cardinal Copia hasn’t dismissed you yet, so you can’t leave, but neither has he asked you to come into his office. So, you’re stuck standing on the threshold waiting for some kind of instructions. “Would you like some more help Cardinal? There are many boxes,” you finally say gesturing to the pile. 

The Cardinal looks from you to the pile of boxes, a range of emotions crossing over his face, each as unreadable as the last. “I-I don’t want to trouble you any more than I already have Sister Desiderata.” 

“If it bothered me, I wouldn’t have offered,” you reply with a shrug. 

Relief washes over Cardinal Copia’s face, “maybe you could unpack the boxes and organise the books?” It was a suggestion rather than an order, but you guess that he isn’t really comfortable ordering people around. It made the fact that he had command over such a large ghoul even more strange to you. 

“Of course Cardinal,” you answer finally stepping into the office. This particular office has been empty for several years, so everything was covered in a layer of dust. On one wall there was a small window to let light in, but every other wall surface was packed tightly with bookshelves. The shelves all stretch from the floor to the high ceiling, even around behind the desk as well. “But first I think I’ll grab a duster.”

The Cardinal looks around himself as if he hadn’t noticed the dust at all until you mentioned it, “t-thank you Sister.” 

You clean all of the shelves that you can reach, struggling to reach a couple of them. The ghoul wordlessly takes the duster from you and helps you clean those that are too tall for you. You thank him, but he doesn’t say anything in response. He just turns around and goes back to carrying Cardinal Copia’s mass of boxes into the room. The room is silent apart from the occasional dropping of heavy boxes onto the floor. The ghoul, apparently finished with his task of box moving leaves without so much as a ‘goodbye’. Now you were alone with Cardinal Copia, who was already be busy attending to a stack of documents which had appeared on his desk. 

“I don’t mean to bother you Cardina Copia, but how would you like these sorted?” you said gesturing towards a box of books you had just opened. 

The Cardinal looks up at you sheepishly as he pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket. “I’ve been looking forward to having an office this big for a while now,” he admits. “So I made this little plan,” he unfolds the paper and hands it over to you. 

On the piece of paper is a highly detailed, colour coded plan of where everything belongs. The books inside of boxes that had blue post-it notes attached to them were to go in the shelf spaces that he had highlighted blue. Red goes with red, yellow with yellow and so on. 

“If it isn’t too much trouble Sister,” he looks at you nervously.

“It’s no trouble at all,” you say waving your hand dismissively. “This is far more useful than me asking where each book goes every five seconds.” 

You set about your work in silence, not wanting to bother Cardinal Copia by making too much noise. Following his plan perfectly, you manage to completely empty a couple of the large boxes. There are still many to go through, but at least your progress was quick. The Cardinal has so many books, in so many different languages that you can’t help but be amazed. There are a lot of thick, dusty old books in Latin, a few smaller ones in German, of course there are many in Italian. Despite the sheer volume of books, it still surprises you when you pull out a few written in Chinese characters. He had told you that he had been to China, but you hadn’t expected him to be able to read and understand the language. With each book you pull out, the more interesting the strangely quiet man becomes. You find yourself glancing over at him every so often, but each time, his head is down, buried in paperwork. 

“I have to go and get something quickly, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Cardinal Copia says as he dashes out of the room. He probably shouldn’t have left you alone in his office, but he was already long gone before you could say anything. 

Without looking, you reach a hand into the box behind you, rummaging around to find the next book from Copia’s collection. Your hand brushes against something warm and soft, something warm and soft that moves when you touch it. Before you can stop yourself, a scream rips from your throat. You turn around just in time to see something large and dark brown run away and dive into a crack in the wall. 

“Are you alright Sister?” an out of breath Cardinal Copia asks from the doorway. There is actual concern in his voice. 

You can’t help the embarrassed blush that creeps across your face. “I’m fine Cardinal. I wasn’t looking at what I was doing and I brushed my hand against a rat. I didn’t mean to scare the poor thing off, I was just startled.”

“What did it look like?”

“Very large and brown,” you say. You point to the small hole where the rat had disappeared. “I don’t know quite how it managed, but it went through there.”

The Cardinal looked at the hole and walks over to it. “That would be Francis, he very much likes the ladies. Can’t help himself. Always wants to meet them. Most of the time it ends in screaming.”

“I didn’t mean to scream!” you protest. “I like rats, they are cute.”

“You like rats?” his tone is one of disbelief. 

“Yes.”

The Cardinal bends down closer to hole and holds his hand out expectantly “Francis, get out here and apologise for scaring the nice Sister.” 

Francis pokes his nose out of the hole and looks from Cardinal Copia to you and then back again. Slowly he comes out of the hole and climbs onto the Cardinal’s hand. Francis is a very large rat, maybe the biggest that you have ever seen. He is a deep brown, almost black colour and his eyes are completely black. His long whiskers twitch as he watches you. Cardinal Copia stands up and beckons you to come closer. Slowly you approach, not wanting to scare him off again. 

“Give me your hand,” the Cardinal says softly holding out the hand that isn’t holding Francis. 

You do as he asks, moving closer until you are almost pressed into the Cardinal’s side. He takes your hand and holds it next to his, in front of Francis. The rat sniffs at your hand, his soft whiskers tickling you. Slowly he inches forward putting his front feet on your hand. 

“Maybe both hands Sister, he is very fat,” Cardinal Copia said. 

Francis looked up at the Cardinal, almost as if he understood the insult about his weight. Quickly he shuffled off the Cardinal’s hand and onto yours. You held up your second hand just in time to catch all of his weight. You’d never held a rat before, but he was heavier than you expected.   
“I don’t think he liked the fat comment Cardinal,” you say with a smile. 

“He is sensitive, only likes to be told the good things.”

“Well, he is very cute,” you say. “I am sorry for frightening you earlier Francis, do you forgive me?”

The rat made a chirping sound, then began to wash his face with his tiny little hands. It was so adorable that it made your smile grow even wider. 

“He forgives you,” Cardinal Copia says, returning your smile. It seems a little strange on his face, like he hasn’t genuinely smiled at anyone for a long time. “You have forgiven him. Now you can both be friends. Do you know what that means Sister?”

You shake your head, “no.”

“It means that he will start begging you for food,” the Cardinal dug around in his cassock pocket until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a small snap-lock bag of cheese cubes. Francis stopped what he was doing and stared intensely at the bag of food. He stood up on his hind legs, sniffing. Cardinal Copia took out a small cube and gave it to you. “Try not to give him too much, or he will get stuck in a hole like he did this morning.”

Francis’s eyes snapped from the cheese in your hand to the Cardinal, he made a short squeaking sound then gently took a bite of the cheese, all the time watching Cardinal Copia. 

“Aww, poor little fella,” you coo at the rat. “Did you stand and laugh, or did you help him?”

Cardinal Copia looked away, “both. I could not help it, it was funny. I warned him not to eat so much, but every night he goes out hunting for food like some starved beast.” The Cardinal seemed to relax a lot more when talking about Francis. It seemed like it was much easier to talk about than himself. All of his nervous hand wringing and stuttering had disappeared. You hope that this means he isn’t weary of you anymore, but you know that such things take time. 

“No one likes being told what to do, especially when it means you can’t have fun;” you say. 

Francis finishes his cheese and looks up at the Cardinal expectantly, waiting for more. You gently rub your finger between Francis’s ears and scratch under his chin.

“No more food until dinner time,” Cardinal Copia scolds the rat. Francis turns his attention back to you, sniffing the air in hopes of food. “The Sister doesn’t have anything for you either. You need to wait.”

Francis turns his back to the Cardinal and begins to climb up your arm. He doesn’t stop until he is sitting comfortably on your shoulder. 

“Is he alright there? He won’t fall?”

“He will not fall, but I can take him if you want me to.”

“No, no, he is fine. I just didn’t want him to hurt himself. He can help me sort through your books. Can’t you Francis?”

Cardinal Copia and you fall back into an easy silence as you continue to sort through his books. Francis eventually gets bored with the lack of attention and the lack of food and climbs down your arm. He wanders slowly over to Cardinal Copia’s desk and climbs up if before curling himself into a ball and falling asleep. He was a strange rat, seemingly half wild and half tame. It also seemed like he understood when Cardinal Copia was speaking to him. There was no doubt in your mind that he wasn’t a regular rat, it wouldn’t be the first time that something within the walls of the church was not quite what it seemed. However, Francis was cute, and that was all that really mattered to you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos and the kind comments! I appreciate them all!   
> What do you think about Francis?


	4. Chapter 4

Shortly after breakfast Sister Imperator had taken you into her office and explained that Cardinal Downs would not be returning from Germany. Instead, he would be transferring there permanently. As a result, you no longer had a job. Sister Imperator had been sympathetic, or at least she appeared to feel sorry for you. She suggested that you would have to return to working in the kitchens if something else for you to do didn’t come up within the next few days. They couldn’t have you lazing about doing nothing after all. You aren’t upset that Cardinal Downs wasn’t coming back from Germany, but you were annoyed that he had so little consideration as to what would happen to you in the aftermath. You liked the old man, but his disregard for you suggested that the feeling wasn’t mutual. 

After your depressingly blunt conversation with Sister Imperator, you decide to make your way to Cardinal Copia’s office. He hadn’t asked you to help him, but you need something to distract yourself. The door to Cardinal Copia’s office is open, but you can’’t see him over the piles of boxes filled with books. Someone had built up a pair of couches and a coffee table from IKEA furniture. How they had made sense of the instructions was beyond you, you hated building furniture. It never went the way it was supposed to, and you always needed to take a break halfway through because of how frustrated you would get. You never lost your temper enough to break things, but it would be a lie to claim that you hadn’t come close a couple of times. 

“Cardinal? Are you in here?” 

You were met with silence. You don’t know if you should just go in and start unpacking more boxes for him, or if you should wait outside. 

“Ah, Sister, good morning!” Cardinal Copia said from behind you. He was walking down the hallway carrying what you hoped was the final box of books that he owned. “You have come to help yes?”

You bowed to the Cardinal, “of course Your Eminence, would you like me to help with that?”

“No, no, it is light, even for my rigatoni arms.” He smiled at you, “this is the last box Sister, well the last box for my office, at least.”

“That is good, I don’t think there is any more space for more shelves.” You followed the Cardinal into his office and the both of you continued to sort his books and texts into the correct piles, and then onto the shelves that lined every inch of wall in the room. 

____________________________________________________________________________

After a couple of hours of sorting, a short, skinny ghoul came into the room. He handed Cardinal Copia an envelope and then left, all without a single word. You watched as the Cardinal opened it, quickly read the contents and then tossed it on his desk. 

“Let’s take a break eh?” he said, sitting down on one of his new couches. He gestured for you to take a seat next to him. “You are very quiet today Sister, and I get the feeling this is not normal for you. Is everything alright?”

“I’m sorry Cardinal, I guess that I just have a lot of things on my mind,” you reply. You hadn’t realised that you had barely spoken all morning. 

“Maybe I can help,” he says. You drop onto the couch next to him and sigh dramatically. “That bad eh?” 

“Cardinal Downs has decided to stay in Germany, he hasn’t sent for me, so I won’t be his assistant any longer. The other Cardinals already have assistants, except for Cardinal Assange. He already made it very clear that he will not have me as an assistant, even temporarily. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to go back to working in the kitchens, but if that is our Master has planned for me, then I guess I don’t have much of a choice do I?” You spoke quickly, blurting out everything that had been bottled up so neatly inside of you. 

Cardinal Copia blinked slowly at you, processing everything that you had said. “That is a lot to take in, isn’t it?” 

You nod, “I guess I’m stuck until Sister Imperator decides what to do with me.” Cardinal Copia gave you a look that suggested that he was weighing something up in his mind. 

“Cardinal Assange did mention something about you being too willful for your own good, among other things,” Cardinal Copia said nodding. Cardinal Assange had pulled him aside at dinner last night and spoken at length about your negative points. Perhaps Cardinal Assange had been motivated by the spirit of helping out a fellow Cardinal, but Copia hadn’t found you to be any of the things that Assange mentioned. People do change with time, and it seemed cruel to let your skills be wasted because of how you used to act. Since his arrival, you had been nothing but kind to the Cardinal. You were certainly the most helpful. Cardinal Assange hadn’t even apologised for never coming to show Copia around. He had just made some pathetic excuse about being busy and things slipping his mind. 

You were about to say something rude about Cardinal Assange, but you stopped yourself, instead you said, “I guess you could say that we often find our personalities clashing.” 

“That is a polite way to put it. Cardinal Assange was far less diplomatic about you,” he said, testing your reaction. 

“When I first met Cardinal Assange, I was far less careful with my words. I was taken in by the clergy and after so long away from any sort of structure that I suppose I was more like a caged animal than anything else. Cardinal Assange seemed to get a kick out of pushing my buttons. I should have seen through it, but I fell for his incessant prodding every time,” you admit. 

“You have a short temper?”

“Less so now, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stay quiet when I don’t agree with something. I understand that the higher up members of the clergy deserve respect, honestly I do,” you began. “But that doesn’t mean that everything they say is correct. When I was a child I was taught to never question people in positions of authority because it’s disrespectful. I had to accept everything I was told as fact, but I can’t and I won’t just blindly follow anymore. I feel like just because you question someone, it doesn’t have to mean that you don’t respect them. But other people, like Cardinal Assange, disagree with me on that point.”

“Cardinal Assange is very sure of himself, always has been,” Cardinal Copia said. “The things he said about you lead me to believe that you would explode into profanity at the mention of his name. He said that I should keep far away from you, but I make my own decisions about people.” Copia turned his mismatched eyes to look directly into yours “I think that you could be a good assistant for me, could you not?”

“I thought that Sister Imperius was assigned to you?” you asked. You’re surprised, you hadn’t expected Cardinal Copia to be so willing to help you after everything that you had admitted. 

“She was,” Cardinal Copia said. His mismatched eyes look shyly into yours, “but she met Francis yesterday and ran out screaming. Apparently she has a terrible phobia of rats.” 

You laugh, storing the information away for later. Francis, hearing his name scampered out from wherever he had been hiding and climbed up Cardinal Copia’s cassock to sit on his lap. You reach over and stroke the rather large rodent, his tail curling around your finger. “Poor Francis! Did Sister Imperius break your heart when she ran away?”

Francis tilts his head at you, as if he can understand what you are saying. He walks across to sit on your lap instead, getting comfortable and snuggling himself in. 

“Yes, he was quite sad, only ate half of his dinner. Been sulking around ever since, haven’t you?” Copia said. Francis gave the Cardinal a strange look, if rats could show facial emotions, you would have sworn he was glaring at Cardinal Copia. 

“Aww, Francis,” you say stroking him under the chin. “You should know that she isn’t worth your sadness. There are a lot of sisters here that like rats. I should introduce some of them to you after dinner.”

Cardinal Copia gave you a soft smile, “you would really do that?” No one had ever treated his rats so kindly before. Some had given his rats food, but most avoided them, and by extension him like some kind of disease. It was one of the reasons why he preferred the company of his rats to the company of other human beings. You, however, were quickly becoming an exception to that rule. 

“Of course, if it is alright with you that is,” you say returning his smile. 

“They will like him? They won’t try to hurt him?” he asks, worry and concern in his voice. He twists his fingers together nervously. 

“I would never introduce him to anyone with those sorts of intentions. You can come with us if you are worried?” You wouldn’t let anyone hurt Francis, he was adorable, and you could tell he was very important to Cardinal Copia. You knew that there had to be some sort of story behind the Cardinal’s affection for rats, but you would ask him when you knew him better. 

“N-no, I’m sure that you will keep him safe.” He wasn’t a fan of social situations and he knew that he would feel out of place. 

“I will,” you say, “and I would love to be your assistant Cardinal.”

“Excellent! I will tell Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator later. Sister Imperator will be relieved, you see, I have gone through many assistants. They were worried I would not find another one.” 

“Have you scared off all of your previous assistants Cardinal?” 

“Uuhh, yes. Well, not always me, sometimes Francis, sometimes others.”

“Well, I am not one to frighten easily,” you say giving Cardinal Copia a soft smile. “You own other rats?”

Cardinal Copia nodded, “I wouldn’t say that I own them, they are more like friends. Rats are the same wherever you go, easy to understand what they want,” he explained. “Even though I had to leave many behind in Tuscany, and in other places, they can fend for themselves, they will be fine.” 

You could feel a sense of sadness in his words, tentatively you placed your hand on his shoulder. He tensed slightly for a moment, as if surprised by the contact, and then he relaxed. “I am sure they will be fine. Rats are resilient, even this one,” you added pointing down at Francis who was now fast asleep in your lap. 

Cardinal Copia smiled at you, “you’re right, of course Sister. But sometimes I still worry.” The Cardinal looked up at the simple clock sitting on the wall and his eyes widened. “I have to go now or I will be late,” he said jumping up.

“Late for what?”

“Some silly last minute meeting.” Cardinal Copia said. He fished around in one of his pockets and handed you the key to his office. “Stay as long as you want Sister, the meeting will probably go on for the rest of the day.”

Without another word Cardinal Copia darted out of the room and off down the hall. You could only imagine how much fun he would be having in a meeting that would last for the next 5 or so more hours. When the Cardinal left, Francis had woken up, he climbed up to your shoulder and made himself comfortable there. Looking around the room, still piled high with boxes, you decided to get back to work. There was no hope of you finishing today, but you would do as much as possible, it was the least you could do now that you were his assistant. You smiled at the thought, Cardinal Copia was a kind man from what you had experienced so far. Sure, he was also a little awkward and tense, but given time, he would get used to you. 

____________________________________________________________________________

The Cardinal hadn’t returned to his office by the time you left just before dinner. You lock the door behind you and hope that he had a spare key somewhere if he needed it for later. Francis is hiding in one of your dress pockets. You would introduce him to some people after you ate, you just had to make sure that he didn’t make a scene during dinner. You have plenty of cheese cubes in your other pocket just in case he got antsy. 

You make your way to the dining hall, also hoping that you would run into Eliana - Sister Redemptio along the way. You hadn’t had a chance to talk with her since before Cardinal Copia arrived. The two of you had been spending less and less time together since she started dating Brother Validus. Of course you understand that she would be spending more time with him, but she barely even looks at you anymore. You honestly didn’t understand why Eli liked Brother Validus so much. He was average height and weight. He wasn’t particularly handsome, but neither was he ugly, he was just plain. Brother Validus was also suspicious of your friendship with Eli. He thought that you were too close to her, too touchy-feely. It didn’t matter how many times you both had made it clear that you were close friends and nothing more, he still wasn’t satisfied. You didn’t know what else to say to him, so you didn’t say anything.

Just as you round the corner to the dining hall, you almost run into the woman in question. She looks tired, but her face seems to light up briefly when she sees you. A moment later the smile is gone.

“Eli!” you exclaim, you hold your arms out to her and she steps into them hugging you tightly. 

“I heard about what happened with Cardinal Downs, are you alright?”

“Yeah, it’s all sorted. I’m working for Cardinal Copia,” you say. “He’s a little shy, but he’s been great so far.”

“Eliana, let’s go!” Brother Validus shouts from the doorway.

She nods at him in acknowledgement, but her arms slip down around you to hold your hands instead, “I need to talk to you about something. Is tomorrow okay?”

“Sure, whenever is fine,” you say shrugging. 

“Eliana, now!” this time his shouting is much louder. He turns on his heel sharply and enters the dining hall. It becomes obvious to you that you won’t be sharing a table with her tonight. 

She looks at you sadly, “I’m sorry Gabriel, I’ve gotta go,” she turns around and runs after her boyfriend. As soon as she catches up to him, he wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her roughly against him. 

You wait a few minutes before you enter the dining hall, suddenly finding yourself lacking an appetite. You don’t know why, but you have a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach. However, you had told Cardinal Copia that you would introduce Francis to some people and that is exactly what you were going to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I hope that you are enjoying the story so far.   
> I may be a little late posting a chapter next week. I'm moving from Japan back to my home country, so things will be a little crazy!


	5. Chapter 5

It wasn’t until after dinner a couple of days later, that Eliana finally sought you out. She had left a note with one of the other Siblings of Sin that she wanted to meet you in the library. Why she couldn’t have just told you herself was beyond you. There is a nagging feeling in the back of your mind that something was about to go very wrong for you. Slowly you made your way to the library, you didn’t feel like rushing to what felt like was your doom. 

Eli has a terribly serious look on her face. As you walk into the deserted library, she looks up at you, but then her eyes dart away. She isn’t smiling and her eyes are rimmed in red. It looks like she has been crying. The strange feeling inside of you grows. It feels like she is about to say something that will break your heart. You slap your best smile on and drop down on the couch next to her. She doesn’t even bother to give you a fake smile in return. 

“We can’t be friends anymore, I’m sorry.” She doesn’t look up as she speaks, her eyes stay fixated on the floor. 

“What?” you can’t believe what she is saying to you, let alone how easy it seems to be for her. 

After a few moments of silence, she looks up at you. There is a determined look on her face, “I can’t be friends with you anymore.”

Her words feel like knives right through your heart. “Where is this coming from?” 

“I want to focus my attention on building my relationship with Brother Validus and you make him uncomfortable.” It didn’t escape you that she referred to her boyfriend by his title and not by his first name. 

“Uncomfortable? How?” You can't believe the words that are coming out of her mouth. You had certainly never meant to make him feel uncomfortable. He had also never mentioned anything to you, so how were you supposed to know any different. 

“He doesn’t like how close physically you always are to me. He is worried that you’ll try to seduce me.”

“Seduce you? He does realise that you are like a sister to me right?”

“He knows,” Eli replies with a solemn nod. “It doesn’t change his feelings though. He doesn’t trust you around me.” 

“So he’s worried about me, but not Papa? That makes no sense,” you say trying to play it off. If you can make her smile then maybe there is a chance she will change her mind. 

“Papa would never be interested in someone like me,” she says so quietly that you can barely hear her. 

“Who told you that?”

“Brother Validus did, and I agree with him. Papa only goes for the best looking people and that isn’t me. It’s the only reason I’ve been his assistant for so long.”

“That’s absurd. You haven’t slept with Papa because he isn’t pushy. If you asked he would jump your bones in an instant and you know it,” you argue.

“That’s not the point! The point is you make him uncomfortable. He gave me a choice. Stay with him and stop being friends with you, or be friends with you and he will leave me. I love him, I can’t lose him.”

“But you can lose me? Throw me away like… like some kind of single-use plastic?” 

“I love you as a sister. But I love him as someone I want to be with forever. He makes me happy. Why can’t you just be happy for me?”

“I am happy for you!” You argue, “I just don’t understand how after everything we’ve been through, that you could throw me away so easily.”

“He is my future, you’re my past,” she said it with such a monotone that it sounded like she had been practicing it for a while before she finally said it. 

“So that’s it?”

“Yes,” Eli looks away from you. 

You clench your fists together, digging your fingernails into your palms. Focusing on the pain rather than the tears that threaten to fall. “Fine.”  
You get up, turning away from her, taking deep breaths until you can trust your voice not to break when you speak. “I honestly hope that he is everything you ever wanted. But if he isn’t, I’ll always be there for you Eliana.” You want to tell her not to come crawling to you if things with him don’t work out, but you could never be that cold to her. 

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, please.”

You turn back around to face her, “I’m not the one who have you an ultimatum,” you hiss. You don’t give her a chance to say anything else as you walk briskly out of the room. 

____________________________________________________________________________

You make your way through the corridors, almost blindly as you attempt to hold back the tears that are covering your vision. When you make it back to your bedroom, that is when you will let yourself cry. Not a moment before then. Luckily for you, the corridors on the way back to your room are deserted, just like the library had been. 

You make a turn past the kitchens, hurrying to get back to your side of the building when you hear a high-pitched, distressing squeal of pain. Distracted momentarily from your heartbreak, you focus on trying to find the source of the noise. 

You follow further down the corridor and the sound gets louder. The sound hurts your ears, but it also hurts your heart. Something is in pain, and you need to find it so that you can help. Your eyes sweep along the dark corridor until they land on the source of the noise. Stuck in the trap was a large white rat with red eyes. The rat was stuck by its tail, thrashing around and trying to escape, but it couldn’t wrench itself free. When you look closer, you see that the rat only has three legs, one of the front paws was missing. That must by why the rat couldn’t escape. 

Slowly you move forward, trying your best not to distress the rat more than it already was. You wish that you have something to put over the rat to lessen it’s opportunity to bite you, but you never wear your veil. You’ll just have to hope that the rat realises that you are a friend, not an enemy. The rat thrashes around more violently as you get closer. The poor little thing was obviously terrified and in pain. You crouch down low beside the rest and pry the trap open as quickly as you can. 

The rat bursts forward, finally free. It turns around on you and before you can move out of the way, it’s jaws clamp down on your hand. It’s teeth sink into the flesh between your thumb and index finger. As quickly as it happens, the rat let go of you and runs away down the corridor and into the darkness. 

“You’re welcome!” you shout at the rat as it runs away. Your hand is throbbing in pain and blood pours out of the wound. There was a lot of blood for such a small bite and it drips along your fingertips and onto the floor. 

“She won’t thank you for your help, but she is grateful,” a familiar voice says from behind you. “Let me see your hand.” 

“Cardinal Copia!” you gasp in surprise. You turn to face him, startled by his sudden appearance. You hold out your hand to him and he takes it delicately. “Is she one of your friends?”

The Cardinal nods, “her name is Daisy. She lost her front foot in a trap when she was very young, but she still tries to outsmart them. Daisy is not friendly like Francis, but maybe one day you will meet her properly. She should really apologise for hurting you.” The tone of his voice sounds almost loving as he speaks about Daisy. He inspects your injury, careful not to make it hurt any worse. 

“It wasn’t really her fault, not really” you say. “I could have been trying to hurt her, she was just defending herself.” 

“You are not upset with her?” The Cardinal pulls a white handkerchief out of his cassock pocket and wraps it around your hand. He could not be more gentle if he tried, you barely felt anything.

“It hurts, and I don’t like that she bit me. But, I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same thing if I was her,” you reply with a shrug. 

Cardinal Copia looks up at you, his mismatched eyes as hypnotising as always. “Thank you for your compassion Sister. I am glad that you are the one who found her, not whoever set the trap. I didn’t know this place had such things.” Even though he has finished bandaging your hand, he doesn’t let go of you. The leather of his gloves against your skin feels warm and comforting. 

“I should have told you,” you reply. Daisy wasn’t the first rat you had freed from traps near the kitchen. “I’m so sorry Cardinal. I guess that it just slipped my mind. The head cook doesn’t like rats in the kitchen so she lays traps all around it. I should have said something, I’m sorry.”

Cardinal Copia smiles at you, “it’s alright. No one has been seriously hurt yet, I’ll just make sure my friends know not to come near here.” He runs his thumb softly over your bandage, “As for this, you should clean it in the morning and re-wrap it everyday until it is healed. However, it should heal quickly.”

“Thank you for your help Cardinal. I owe you a new handkerchief, I doubt I’ll be able to get the blood out of this one.”

Cardinal Copia shook his head, “you needn’t worry about it. I have plenty more where that came from. You saved Daisy from a terrible fate. One ruined handkerchief doesn’t begin to compare to your kind actions. Thank you,” he lifts your hand up to his lips and places a kiss over the bandage. His moustache is soft and it tickles your skin. You can’t help but blush at his words.

“Y-You’re welcome Cardinal.” You don’t know where the stutter has come from, it has never happened to you before. 

“You should get off to bed now Sister, you look tired,” 

You nod at him, “of course Cardinal. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Cardinal Copia lets go of your hand and instantly it feels as if a spell has been broken. Everything that Eli said to you earlier comes crashing back down on your mind. You barely manage to slap a smile back on your face before the Cardinal catches the change in your mood. 

“Y-Yes,” he replies. “Sweet dreams.” 

Before you can say anything else to him, he turns around and goes back the way he came. Why he had originally come down the corridor was beyond you. You can still feel the light touch of his moustache against your skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a little late (and a little shorter than usual). The next chapter will be out on Sunday!  
> Please feed me with comments <3


	6. Chapter 6

With the start of a new day, you do your best to swallow down the overwhelming sense of loss that you feel over Eli and make your way to Cardinal Copia’s office. You made sure that your makeup and hair was perfect so that he wouldn’t notice something about you was off. Your eyes were still a little red, but you could just pretend that you were suffering from seasonal allergies if he asks about it. As always, the Cardinal is already there, his face buried deep into the pile of documents that has quickly become his problem to deal with. The only difference is that this time, Francis is sitting on his shoulder, his nose in the air searching for food. 

“Good morning Cardinal,” you say before adding, “good morning Francis.”

Cardinal Copia looks up at you, “good morning Sister,” he replies, taking a sip of his coffee. “How is your hand?” 

“It’s a little strange, but it doesn’t hurt at all. It’s even scabbing over nice and quickly too, just like you said it would.” You can’t explain why, but you are still using his handkerchief as a bandage. 

“Good, good,” he says nodding. 

You make your way over to your own desk, settling in for what you know is going to be a long day of document reading and summarising for the both of you. 

A loud series of knocks slam against Cardinal Copia’s office door. It startles the both of you and Cardinal Copia nearly spills his cup of coffee as he jumps. Francis jumps off the Cardinal’s shoulder and into the hole in the wall that he usually uses. Cardinal Copia looks at you, questioning if you were expecting anyone. You cast your eyes over his appointment book and shake your head at him. There was no important meeting or anything else that needed dealing with today. 

“Come in,” the Cardinal says. 

Barely a second after he speaks, the door flies open and a young girl named Jessica walks in. She was only a child, barely passed the age of 15, but she was also heavily pregnant with twins. She had come to the church almost 5 months ago begging for somewhere safe to stay and she had been granted sanctuary. Jessica had never told anyone the details of how she became pregnant, and you had decided that she would say something when she was ready and no sooner. You respect her decision, but others within the church didn’t always do the same. Jessica attended the school which shares the grounds and ideology of the church, but she wasn’t a believer. The church provides sanctuary to anyone who needs it, regardless of their own religion. Ever since she had come to the church, she had gravitated towards you, almost like a younger sister. As she got further along in her pregnancy, the more her emotions seem to change quickly. You couldn’t blame her though, you couldn’t begin to imagine what she was going through, and what she had already been through. The fact that she is upset is obvious by her eyeliner running down her blotchy red cheeks. She holds an arm protectively around her stomach. 

“Jessica, sweetheart?” you make your way over to her, your arms open to welcome her. “What happened?”

“I have a problem,” Jessica manages to say between tears. 

You pull her into your arms and hold her as tightly as possible. It isn’t easy with her big belly in the way, but she clings to you anyway. You keep a tight hold on her as she cries. Cardinal Copia watches from his desk, eyes wide in what you can only guess is fear. He mustn’t be used to people crying, let alone a young, teenage pregnant girl. His shoulders are squared and his posture is rigid. Gently you help Jessica sit down on the couch, placing pillows behind her back to make her comfortable. As you sit next to her, she wraps her arms around your waist and rests her head on your chest. 

“Do you want to tell me what is wrong?” you ask.

Instead of speaking, she pulls out an envelope from her pocket and thrusts it into your hands. You open it and pull out an official letter from Cardinal Assange, your blood boils when you realise that something he has done has upset her so much. As you read the letter, Cardinal Copia tentatively approaches you both. He holds out a handkerchief for Jessica and she takes it, dabbing away her tears. 

“W-Would you like some chocolate? Chocolate is okay right?” he asks. His voice is quiet and the tone full of uncertainty. Jessica looks up at him and nods, a hint of a smile cracking over her lips. He goes back to his desk and pulls out a large block of milk chocolate from one of the drawers. He hands it over to her, “eat as much as you like.”

You finish reading the letter just as Cardial Copia takes a seat on the couch opposite to you and Jessica. “I’m going to kill him. I am actually going to kill him, that pompous, self righteous cu-,”

“You shouldn’t swear like that in front of my babies,” Jessica teases, cutting you off.

Cardinal Copia holds his hand out for the letter, “may I?” 

Jessica nods and you pass the paper to your Cardinal. She breaks off a row of chocolate and stuffs it all in her mouth in one go. 

Dear Miss Jessica,

Due to Cardinal Downs transferring to Germany, you are no longer under his authority or protection. As such, you must find another Cardinal to vouch for you, or you must leave the church.  
You have until Monday to rectify your situation.

Sincerely,  
Cardinal Assange. 

“Cardinal Downs was the only one willing to vouch for me,” Jessica begins to cry again. “I’ll have to leave. I don’t have anywhere else to go.” 

You rub Jessica’s back, trying to soothe her. “I will find a way to fix this. Even if I have to go to Papa and beg, I will do it. You will not be leaving here.” Even if you couldn’t convince Papa to let her stay, you wouldn’t let her leave alone. You would go with her if you had to. There was no way that you would let her roam the streets alone. 

“Why do you need to be vouched for?” Cardinal Copia asks breaking you out of your thoughts. 

“She isn’t from the church, she came to us asking for sanctuary and it was given without question, like usual. However, Cardinal Assange is worried that her being underage and pregnant would cause problems for the church. He voiced those concerns to the other Cardinals, and only Downs disagreed with him,” you explain. 

Cardinal Copia nods his head in understanding, “What was his main concern?”

“I don’t want to tell anyone who the father is,” Jessica says quietly.

“And she shouldn’t have to,” you add defensively. “Her truths are hers to reveal if or whenever she feels comfortable.”

The Cardinal holds his hands up, “I agree with you Sister,” he says. He turns his attention to Jessica, “you don’t have to disclose anything that you don’t want to. Ever. I just have one question for you.”

Jessica looks up at the Cardinal and nods, waiting for him to continue. She stuffs more chocolate into her mouth, almost half of the block is gone now. 

“Do you think that the father of your children would pose any danger to the church?”

Jessica shakes her head, “he doesn’t know where I am and he doesn’t care. He is no one important,” she said with a shrug.

“Then this is easy to fix,” Cardinal Copia says. “There is no need to go to The Third and beg. I will do it.” 

You look at him in surprise, “Cardinal Copia, sir, you’ve already done so much for me. I can’t ask you to do even more.” 

The Cardinal smiles at you and walks over to his desk. He writes something on a piece of paper and stamps it with his official seal as he speaks. “Well then, it is a good thing that you aren’t asking me to do anything. I am volunteering. I could never sit by and allow for someone so young and so obviously in need of help to be thrown out onto the streets. We may worship Lucifer, the bringer of evil, but we are not cruel to those in need. Even if they do not share our beliefs. It seems that Cardinal Assange has forgotten that.” 

You dart over to the Cardinal and drop to your knees in a sign of respect. You bow low, your head touching the floor, “thank you Cardinal.”

“T-There is no n-need for that Sister,” he says nervously. He holds his hand out to you and helps you back up to your feet. You would have to find some way to repay him for everything that he has done for you. You had no idea where to start, but you would find a way. “Just promise me that you won’t kill Cardinal Assange, it’s far too much paperwork to deal with.”

“What if he had a little accident on the stairs? No paperwork then,” you say as you smile wickedly at Cardinal Copia. 

The Cardinal shakes his head at you but doesn’t say anything. However, you do catch a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. 

“Thank you Cardinal Copia,” Jessica says. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you for this.” She is crying again, but this time they are tears of happiness. 

Cardinal Copia shakes his head again, “there is no need for repayment. I don’t do this because I expect something in return. I do it because it is right,” he says firmly. In that moment, you are struck by the thought that something seems different about him. He isn’t hunched over or twisting his finger together with nervousness. The Cardinal is standing tall, unafraid to make eye contact. “I’ll take this to Cardinal Assange,” he says holding out the letter he had written for the Cardinal. “It seems that we also need to have a discussion about what we as Cardinals stand for.” 

The Cardinal turns back to look at you and Jessica. In the shadows of the doorway, all you can see is his white eye gazing back at you. “No one within these walls should ever force you to speak about anything if you don’t want to. If they try, tell them that you are under my protection and that you only answer to me,” he says. “I will never force you to speak if you don’t want to. However, I just want you to know that if you ever want to talk about your situation, I’m sure that Sister Desiderata here will be ready to listen, as will I.”

You find yourself staring at Cardinal Copia, entranced by his eye. Nothing about him seems the same as the nervous man you met the first night of his arrival. Maybe he was finally getting comfortable around you, but you had a feeling that it was something else. He seems to take the matter seriously, almost personally. The Cardinal could have asked you for literally anything in return for his assistance, and you would have given it. He looks away and you snap out of your daze with a shake of your head. He leaves without saying another word. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Jessica has already left by the time Cardinal Copia comes back to the office almost an hour later. The Cardinal looks exhausted, it must have been a very taxing discussion. You couldn’t imagine spending that much time alone with Cardinal Assange, let alone trying to tell him that he was wrong about something. You could only imagine what Cardinal Copia had been through in the last hour. As he steps further into the room you notice that his normally perfect hair has been messed up and his bottom lip is split and bleeding. 

You dart out of your chair and over to him. Without thinking, you cup his face in your hands and examine the damage. He goes completely rigid under your touch, hands hanging limply by his sides. His eyes roam around the room, looking everywhere but at you.   
“Cardinal, who did this to you?” you ask softly.

“C-Cardinal Assange was more passionate about his position than I thought he would be,” the Cardinal replied. 

“Are you sure I can’t kill him?” you ask, barely even joking anymore. You pull Cardinal Copia over to the couch and sit him down. He loosens up now that you aren’t touching his face anymore, but you can still feel tension radiating from him. You pick up the handkerchief that he had lent to Jessica and pour some cold water over it. 

“It doesn’t matter,” the Cardinal replies. He sounds tired, “she is under my protection and there is nothing that he can do about it. No matter how hard he punches.”

“Thank you Cardinal, truly, I mean it, thank you.” you sit down next to him, your knees touching. “I know you said that you don’t expect repayment, but if there is ever anything I can do for you, just ask.”

He doesn’t reply, but he finally looks up at you. As his mismatched eyes meet yours, you’re struck by how handsome he looks all disheveled and bloody. It’s a terrible time to be thinking of him like that, but you can’t help yourself. You look away from him, blinking away the thoughts, trying to focus on something else. 

“May I?” you ask gesturing to his bleeding lip and the dried blood that made a trail down his chin. There was a lot of blood for only a medium sized cut. At least he was wearing his black cassock so his blood wouldn’t stain his clothing.

Again, he doesn’t say anything, just nods. You cup his chin and bring him closer to you. His face turns red with blush. As gently as possible you dab the wet handkerchief over the blood. He inhales sharply at the pain. 

“Sorry,” you mumble.

“I-It’s fine,” his voice comes out as a rasp. 

You wipe away the trail of blood down his chin and give his injury one final inspection before you let him go. “The cut isn’t too deep, so I don’t think that you need to visit the nurse, unless you want to of course.”

“T-Thank you Sister,” he says in a voice so quiet you almost don’t hear anything at all. 

“Thank you Cardinal,” before you can stop yourself your wrap your arms around his waist, pulling him tightly against you, resting your head on his chest. “I don’t know what I would have done without you. You’ve helped me more than you realise.”

Tentatively the Cardinal pats your back, “it is alright Sister.”

You pull away from him and instantly your arms feel empty, like they were supposed to stay wrapped around Cardinal Copia. You don’t know where that thought had come from, but you wish that it would go back and stay wherever it came from. “You can call me by my first name if you want.”

“W-What is it?” 

“It’s Gabriel.”

“As in the arch angel?” he asks, genuinely curious. 

You laugh nervously, “yeah. My parents were expecting twin boys, but they got triplets instead. First my older brother, then me, then my younger brother. They already had names picked out, and they didn’t feel like changing the order of things just because I’m a girl. I know it seems a bit… blasphemous to have that name and be here, but that’s just how life goes sometimes,” you say with a shrug. 

“So if you are Gabriel, then who are your brothers?”

“Michael, me and then Raphael,” you say. “No prizes for guessing the names of my other brothers.”

“That is…” the Cardinal pauses, searching for the right words.

“Eccentric?” you suggest with a smile. 

“I suppose that is the best way to put it,” he returns your smile shyly. “Gabriel is a beautiful name, it suits you, golden hair and blue eyes just like an angel.” Cardinal Copia seems to speak before he realises what he is saying. His eyes widen at you before he looks away. He’s bushing heavily again. 

“It’s been a long morning Cardinal,” you say changing the subject. “It’s a little early but if we grab lunch in the cafeteria now, we can avoid the crowds.”

“Sounds perfect, lead the way Gabriel.” 

____________________________________________________________________________

There was always more work to be done. After lunch you and the Cardinal found yourselves in the library searching through mountains of books looking for information on some old forgotten ritual. Cardinal Copia hadn’t explained much to you, he had just given you key words to look for. He is used to working alone, so adjusting to having an assistant was taking him some time. There was a large stack of books between you, all written in Latin. It was beginning to make your brain hurt, but you wouldn’t complain, the Cardinal deserves better than to listen to you whine. 

Quick footsteps echo through the library, stopping every so often as if looking for someone.   
“Ah! Sister!” Papa III exclaims. “Just the person I want to see.”

Cardinal Copia gives you a cautious look from behind his pile of books, you give him a look that shows your equally as confused. It doesn’t escape you that Papa fails to acknowledge your Cardinal’s presence. 

“Hello Papa,” you say with a bow. “How may I help you?” 

“Every year Sister Redemptio takes the same day off, October 16th. This is her birthday yes? She has been quiet lately, well, quieter… we should throw a party for her. Get flowers and cake, make her happy.”

Your face darkens at the mention of her name. Papa misses it. “Papa no,” you say evenly. 

“Papa no, why?”

“It isn’t her birthday Papa, that has already come and gone.”

“Then why does she take it off?”

“She has worked for you for years now, maybe you should ask her yourself,” you can’t help the snapping tone of your voice. 

You hear Cardinal Copia take in a sharp breath. Papa raises an eyebrow at you, unused to being spoken to in such a way unless it was by a rejected lover. 

“I’m sorry Papa,” you say insincerely. You don’t have the energy to worry about Papa’s feelings. “Sister Redemptio and I are no longer on speaking terms. It’s not my place to tell you why she always takes the day off. You need to ask her yourself. Just know that it isn’t a good day for her.” 

Papa nods his head along with you, taking everything in. “So no party?”

“No Papa,” you reply.

“Thank you Sister,” he says turning on his heel. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some arrangements to cancel.” He briskly makes his way down the aisle and out of the library.

Cardinal Copia looks up at you, concern shows on his face. Seemingly out of nowhere, Francis appears on his shoulder. “You are not speaking with your friend?”

You shake your head, blinking back the tears that threaten to fall, “not any more.” You reach up and stroke the rat. His soft fur is comforting. 

“May I ask why?”

“I would really rather not talk about it Cardinal. She had a choice to make and she made it,” you reply. 

“I’m sorry Gabriel,” he says sincerely. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.” He places a hand on your shoulder gently, trying his best to be comforting. 

“Thanks Cardinal,” you place your hand over his and give it a light squeeze. “I’ll get over it eventually, it just hurts like fuck right now.”

Francis climbs along the Cardinal’s arm and settles onto your shoulder instead. He makes small squeaking noises and nuzzles himself closer to your neck.

“Francis is also here if you need anything. He can’t speak, but he is a good listener.”

You nuzzle Francis back with your cheek, “thank you Francis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your kind words! I'm happy that you like the story so far!  
> Please feed me with more comments :)


	7. Chapter 7

You have been working for Cardinal Copia for a couple of weeks now and slowly he has become a lot more comfortable around you. He had come out of his shell enough to crack jokes with you. The more he opened up, the more obvious it became that he spent a lot of time on his own. His hobbies were all solitary activities such as reading and watching old horror movies. Somewhere along the line you had stopped thinking of him as just Cardinal Copia, and had begun thinking of him as your Cardinal. A part of you felt territorial over him. Around others he was very quiet, preferring to observe rather than to take part in conversation. It had gained him an unflattering reputation of being either stuck-up or too weird for normal conversation. The surge of people that had been interested in him when he first arrived had all but disappeared. Almost all of them couldn”t handle how quiet he was, or they were put off by how close he was with his rats. Whatever it was, it seems like only you got to see the full picture of him and the same part of you that felt territorial over him, also felt glad about that. 

To honour the full moon (and an excuse for everyone to drink), there had been a party organised for tonight. When the party had first been announced, you had planned to go with Eli and get absolutely plastered on the free alcohol that the church would provide. But now, you would be going alone. You had put a lot of effort into looking nice for the party this evening. You had slipped into a tight black dress with a low neckline, something that put your ample chest on display. The dress stopped just above your knees, long enough to leave some mystery, but short enough to still gain attention from wandering eyes. You slipped on a pair of sheer stockings, held up by a garter belt, and cute black high heels. You kept your makeup the same as always, heavy and black. You covered your lips with a dark red lipstick and let your hair fall naturally wherever it pleased, but also making sure that it covered your scar. You knew that you would look a little plain, especially compared to the other Sisters who would all be vying for someone’s attention, but you didn’t have it in you to care. You weren’t going to the party with the intention of bringing someone back to your room. No, you were only going because if you didn’t you would spend the entire night in bed having a pity party for yourself. You didn’t even want to go, and the more you thought about it, the less appealing it all sounded. All you wanted to do was crawl back into bed, maybe stuff your face with something sweet and watch a comforting movie. You didn’t want to be surrounded by happy people all laughing and joking. You didn’t want to deal with pushy Siblings of Sin trying to get laid. You just wanted to be alone. But, you were already dressed, so you couldn’t back out now. ‘Never let them see you cry’ was a a motto that you had learnt from a past lover, and as much as you hated that person now, you had to admit, the attitude was useful, especially at times like these. You take in a deep breath, force your head up high and make your way to the ballroom. 

As you expected, the ballroom was packed with people, all wearing their best suits and dresses. Many were flocked around Papa III, vying for a moment of his attention. Smaller groups clustered around different Cardinals, but yours was nowhere in sight . It made sense that he would skip this event, and as each moment passed, you wished that you had skipped as well. You snatched up a drink as it went passed and made the round of different groups, making small talk as you went.

You checked the clock and only a couple of hours had past, still far too early for you to return to your room. You didn’t want to be here, you didn’t want to spend your time talking with people that you could care less about. But, at least the alcohol was free. You downed another glass, drinking the burning whiskey like it was a shot, rather than something that was to be sipped at in a refined manner. You didn’t care. You didn’t give a rat’s ass about the opinion of anyone in the room, not even Papa III. With music blaring loudly in your ears, you decide to take a seat on the outskirts of the ballroom floor. You couldn’t leave just yet, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t drown your feelings in a corner somewhere instead. 

You took another glass, this time it was something sweet and fruity. Easy and quick to swallow. Before the ghoul serving the drinks could move on, you slammed your empty glass back down on the tray and grabbed another drink. The ghoul gave you a look, but didn’t say anything. Instead he just passed you a full and unopened bottle of whiskey. The thought of drinking it wasn’t all that appealing, you hated the way that it burns your throat. But the thought of staying at the party and being sober was even worse. You took the bottle eagerly and smiled at the ghoul. Slowly and with practiced precision, you located an empty couch in the corner of the room and staggered over to it. You scanned the room to make sure that no one was watching you, then you drop down onto the soft seat. It felt good to get off your feet, you love your heels, but sometimes you wish that you didn’t wear them so often. 

You watch the other people in the room, sipping at your drink and refilling it every time it empties. You don’t know how long you sat there, just drinking and watching, but there is a lot less alcohol in the bottle than there was before. At least you were mostly hidden in the darkness of the corner. By now, only slow songs were playing over the speakers. It was an attempt by the organiser to get people to leave earlier, in amourous embraces, but it wasn’t working for you. In fact, it was having quite the opposite effect, making you feel more melancholy and utterly alone. The copious amounts of alcohol you were consuming weren’t helping to improve your mood. 

Someone clears their throat next to you and it startles you. You look up and see Cardinal Copia standing in front of you. He is wearing a finely tailored black suit . Black trousers, black shirt, black tie, black jacket. It was like he was dressed in midnight, and he looked handsome. It was easier to admit to yourself how good looking he is when you are were drunk. Sober you wasn’t having any of that nonsense, even if both versions of you were most certainly attracted to the Cardinal. You watch as his eyes drift from the dainty drinking glass in your hands to the large half-empty bottle that sat beside you. A look of concern graces his features. 

“Hello Cardinal!” you say brightly. The cheerful tone in your voice is fake, but you don’t want him worrying about you.

“Good evening Gabriel,” he says. “May I take a seat?”

“Of course!” you keep your false happiness firmly in place. You are happy to see him, but you didn’t want him to see you like this. He would lose respect for you. You move the bottle out of his way and pat the empty space beside you. 

“You’ve probably already been told this several times tonight, but you look beautiful Gabriel,” the Cardinal says as he sat down beside you. His fingers were tightly wrapped around a glass of blood red wine. If he held the glass any tighter, it would surely snap. 

You struggle to put on your best smile before you look over at him, “thank you.” You have a feeling that he was being sincere in his words, but it doesn’t cheer you up any. 

He studies your face for a moment, “but you also look look like you either want to snap someone’s neck, or burst into tears. I can’t quite tell which.” 

Your eyes widen at him, you hadn’t fooled him for a second. You look back down at the glass in your hand, “why not both?” you mumble.

“Maybe don’t choose the neck snapping, that would be a lot of paperwork,” he says jokingly. The nervous way he twisted his drinking glass said it all. He desperately wanted you to smile, but he didn’t know how to make it happen. 

“Crying hardly seems like a better option, at least for me,” you say. 

“I find it to be quite therapeutic,” the Cardinal admits. 

“Not when you’re the drunk girl sitting in the corner.”

Cardinal Copia nodded at you in agreement. “Would you like a distraction? Or would you prefer to be left alone?”

The only thing you want is for someone to wrap their arms around you, but you could never ask him for that.  
“What kind of distraction?”

He nodded his head towards the dance floor. Couples were pressed tightly together swaying to romantic slow songs. 

“My feet hurt too much for dancing,” you pout. 

“So take your shoes off, your feet are the last thing that people will be looking at,” he reassures you. He stands up and offers you his hand. 

You gently kick off your shoes and take his hand. He helps you to your feet and then leads you to the edge of the dance floor. You lean a little heavier into him than you mean to. If anyone asks, you would give them an answer about being too drunk, but really, you were savouring the feeling of someone taking care of you. He may refer to his arms as spaghetti, but they feel just perfect to you. Cardinal Copia keeps a hold of your hand, pulling you gently to face him. Without any shoes on, you only reach to just below his chin. You instantly miss the boost heels give you, but with your head resting against his chest, you can’t find the will to complain. His heartbeat is rapid, pounding beneath you. 

“May I? He asks as his other hand hovers over your back.

You look up at him with a smile, the first genuine one of the night, “of course.” You don’t bother telling him to keep his hand at a respectable level, he isn’t the type to grab your ass when you aren’t paying attention. “What do I do with this?” you ask jiggling your free arm in drunken emphasis of its lack of occupation. 

The Cardinal returns your smile, “you can place it on my arm, put it around my neck, or around my back. Whichever you want.”

You opt for the latter and press yourself even closer to him as your hand trails around behind him and up his back. Your fingers cling lightly to his jacket. His suit feels nice underneath your fingers. 

He sways the both of you slowly from side to side to the beat of the music. It isn’t really what anyone would call dancing, except maybe preteens at their first boy-girl dance. His movements are almost gentle enough for you to fall asleep, but the pounding of the bass makes it impossible. The silence that blankets you doesn’t feel awkward at all, but you can still feel his heart slamming in his chest. Your poor Cardinal may not be showing it outwardly, but he was nervous. At least his hands weren’t shaking. 

“How do you feel?” he asks. 

“A little dizzy.” You know that wasn’t what he meant, but it was the only answer he was getting for now. 

“Would you like to go for a walk outside, the fresh air might help?” he suggested.

You shake your head and nuzzled closer to him, “outside is cold, here is nice and warm. Just hold me tightly and no sudden movements.”

His hand on your back pulled you closer, so now you were pressed fully against him. His grip was tighter. It felt protective rather than possessive. 

“No spinning?”

“Only if you take it slowly.”

“Okie dokie,” he nodded to himself. 

You couldn’t help but giggle at him. For a Satanic Cardinal, he certainly made interesting word choices. You looked up at him and saw a barely concealed smile grace his lips. They were nice looking lips. You did your best to chase away the thoughts of what those lips would feel like pressed against yours. 

The two of you dance through another song in comfortable silence. You try to calm your racing mind, but as the effects of the alcohol begin to lessen, all the things you’ve been avoiding thinking about come surging forward. You don’t want to think about Eli and her betrayal but her smiling face keeps popping into your head. You shake your head, shutting your eyes shut tight to chase her away. 

Cardinal Copia gives your hand a gentle squeeze, “would you like to talk about it? Or would you just like to dance?”

“I shouldn’t be burdening you with my problems,” you say shaking your head.

“You could never be a burden on me Gabriel,” he replies. 

You smile at him, and this time it is genuine, “thank you,” you say so quietly that he almost doesn’t catch it. You inhale deeply, trying to calm yourself, but it doesn’t work. “Eliana chose her boyfriend over me. He said that he couldn’t trust me around her, couldn’t trust us to be alone together. He told her that I would lead her astray, like I am some kind of predator,” the words tumble out of your mouth before you can stop them. “He made her choose, and she picked him.” 

“But he isn’t worried about all the time she spends with Papa III?” the Cardinal questions. 

“He apparently told her that she isn’t attractive enough for Papa to even consider. Which is a load of bullshit because a tree with a hole at the right height would be attractive enough for him.”

You feel Cardinal Copia’s chest rumble with laughter beneath your cheek. You wait for him to reprimand you for speaking ill of Papa, but he doesn’t say anything. The hand on your back runs up and down soothingly. 

You take that as a sign to carry on, “not to mention that she is gorgeous, she doesn’t see it, she never has, but she is. You don’t have to want to fuck someone to be able to tell if they are good looking,” you state bitterly. “She is like a sister to me, she is my family. That is what I mean when I tell her that I love her, but he twisted that. He ruined our friendship. She is so scared to lose him that she agreed not to be around me anymore. The one person who I thought would be in my life forever has abandoned me.” Your body is shaking, but it isn’t from the cold. 

You feel lips press against your forehead in a barely-there kiss, “I’m so sorry Gabriel,” he says, trying to comfort you. “He seems to be an insecure man. Maybe you could try to show him that your love for Eliana is purely platonic?”

“I didn’t even know that he had a problem with me until it was already too late,” you explain. “He said that just my being around her makes him uncomfortable. I never even got a chance to try and change my ways, or show him how wrong he is.” 

The Cardinal was quiet for what felt like an eternity, but really was only a few moments. “You know that you cannot do anything to break them up,” he said. Slowly he spun you so that your back rested against his chest and his arms crossed over your waist. You lean back into him with a sigh. Being in his arms like this feels nice in a way that you didn’t want to think too much about. “She would never forgive you. She has to realise the truth for herself, and when she does, she will come back to you.” 

“Doesn’t that just make me a doormat? Something that can be walked all over?” you can feel tears beginning to brim in the corner of your eyes. 

Gently Cardinal Copia spun you back around, your head back against his chest and his arm rubbing your back softly. “If you were anyone else, then maybe yes. Despite the tough image you put up, you have the gentlest heart I have ever come across. Do you remember the first night we met?”

You nod, not trusting your voice.

“You didn’t know me, you had no obligation to me. You could have left me to fend for myself, but you saw my nervousness and you helped me. You made me feel at ease in a place full of strangers. It is that gentle heart of yours that welcomes people in, it doesn't make you a doormat, it makes you compassionate. How people choose to treat you is by no means a reflection of you, it is a reflection of them.” 

“What if she never comes back? What if she ends up marrying that, that…” you trail off, unable to put your feelings into words. You can’t stop the tears that are falling down your cheeks. It must be from the combination of too much alcohol, too much sadness and the kindness of Cardinal Copia. You knew that he would listen and try to help, but you never expected him to do it while holding you so tenderly. Your heart swelled with affection for your Cardinal, he was too good to you. 

“She is smart right? She is strong?”

You nod, “the strongest I’ve ever known.”

‘“She won’t put up with his shit forever. She will realise that he isn’t worth what he asks of her.”

“And if she doesn't?”

“Then she isn’t worth your tears.” 

Carindal Copia pulled back from you, but kept his arm tightly around your waist. He lets go of your hand and cups your chin, tilting your face to look up at him. You find yourself trapped in his mismatched eyes, unable to look away. It was like he is looking into your very soul. He pulls a handkerchief out of his suit pocket and dabs your tears away, careful not to smudge your makeup. When he is satisfied with his work he puts it away. At least this one won’t get ruined by blood. His hand rests on the back of your head, fingers tangling in your hair. There is an emotion in his eyes that you can’t read. He looks away first, blinking slowly. The hand in your hair guides you back to rest against his chest and you can feel his hold on you tighten momentarily, squeezing before loosening again. You wrap your free hand around his waist and copy his actions, hugging him tightly. You want to just stay with him like this as long as possible, swaying gently to music that you hadn’t been listening to at all. His lips press against your forehead again, but this time there is more certainty behind the action. The Cardinal’s hand leaves your hair and takes hold of yours again. Instead of holding your hand, he threads his fingers through yours, leather gloves cool against your skin. You all but melt into him as an easy silence descends on the both of you. 

You don’t know how much time passes as the pair of you continue your slow dancing. The volume of the music becomes lower and lower until someone abruptly announces that it is time for everyone to leave. You hadn’t expected to spend so long at the party, and you certainly hadn’t expected to spend such a long time in the Cardinal’s arms. You start to feel guilty, he didn’t seem to be the biggest fan of parties, yet you had forced him to stay because he was worried about you. He probably had mountains of work that he wants to get through, yet he had wasted his precious free time coddling you. You would have to find a way to make it up to him. You squeeze your arms around him tightly one last time before you both drift apart. Suddenly it feels cold without his arms around you. You can’t help but wonder if he misses your warmth as well. He keeps a hold of your hand and leads you back over to your discarded shoes, letting you lean against him as you slip them back on. Before he can lead you anywhere else, you snatch up the discarded bottle of whiskey. 

The Cardinal raises his eyebrow at you as he looks between you and the half-full bottle of alcohol. 

“What?” you ask playfully. “A ghoul gave me the entire bottle, I’m hardly going to leave it behind. It was free!”

“Try not to give yourself alcohol poisoning Gabriel, having your stomach pumped is no fun,” he replies. You can’t tell if he is joking or not because of the concerned look on his face.

“How exactly would you know what having your stomach pumped is like?” 

“Many things happened in my younger days,” he admits. “I mostly stick to wine now. It reduces the chance that I’ll end up paralytically drunk.”

You laughed, “I don’t know if I believe you Cardinal. You’re always so formal and well put together that I can’t imagine what you would be like if you were that drunk.” 

“It was never a pretty sight,” he cringed. “Thankfully everyone else around me was always equally as drunk, so no one remembers.”

“You are lucky. If that happened nowadays the pictures would be spread all over social media before you could even blink. You should see some of the pictures of me! Actually, no, no you shouldn’t.” You laughed at the surprised look on his face.

“And here I was thinking that you were a proper lady,” he said in fake shock. 

You give his arm a gentle shove, “I’m a Sister of Sin, what did you expect?”

Before either of you can say anything more, a loud crashing sound followed by arguing and shouting startles the both of you. A couple of drunken men were having a fist fight in the middle of the abandoned dancefloor. As you looked closer, you could see one of the men was Cardinal Assange, his face covered in blood leaking from a cut just above his eye. You didn’t know who the other man was, but you instantly hoped that he would be the winner.  
Out from the dark corner behind you, you hear a loud squeak before a large, plump rat dashes over to you and Cardinal Copia. Francis climbs up the Cardinal’s leg, all the way up to his shoulder where he perches.

With your free hand, you stroke the chubby rodent. “Did that sound startle you my cute little one?” you asked him. The rat cuddles up to your hand and makes soft sounds, enjoying being the center of your attention. 

Another loud crashing sound erupts from the fighting men. Cardinal Assange is now lying on the floor, either passed out or knocked out, you hope it is the latter. A pair of bulkier ghouls haul the other man off the downed Cardinal and escort him out of the ballroom. You probably won’t be seeing that Brother ever again. 

“Oi! Copia! Come give me a hand with him will you?” an unfamiliar Cardinal shouts across the room. 

Cardinal Copia looks at you and rolls his eyes, “no rest for the wicked.”

“You should just leave him there,” you suggest, “it might teach him a lesson.”

“Doubtful, he is a man who never learns, no matter how many times the lesson is repeated. Fighting is in his nature,” the Cardinal replies with a long suffering sigh. “You should take Francis with you, he can be quite comforting when he wants to be.”

“You don’t mind me stealing him?”

“Borrowing,” Cardinal Copia said, “not stealing. Besides, I think that he prefers you anyways. A kind Sister who calls him cute and feeds him versus an old man who tries to put him on a diet. I know who I would choose.” Almost as if he understood, Francis walked along the Cardinal’s shoulder, down his arm and onto your shoulder. Cardinal Copia sighed, “see!”

“Aww, don’t feel bad my dear Cardinal!” you 

“I’ll see the both of you on Monday morning,” Cardinal Copia says. He gently scratches Francis between the ears. In a flash he takes hold of your hand and places a lingering kiss on the back of it. When he pulls away, he was blushing so badly that his face was bright red. His blush matched yours, but at least you could both blame it on the alcohol if you needed to. “Goodnight Gabriel.”

He darts away to help the other Cardinals before you can say anything. Once you make it to your bedroom, you prepare a spare pillow for Francis to sleep on. Within moments he has made himself at home, curled into a sleeping ball. You’re glad that your Cardinal suggested you take Francis, he was right, it was comforting having the rat with you. 

As you prepared yourself for bed, you couldn’t stop your mind from wandering back to Cardinal Copia pressing his lips against the back of your hand. It was such an old fashioned, but romantic gesture, no one else had ever treated you like that. The tender way that he kissed your forehead and brushed your tears away was enough to make your heart swell with emotion. It has become obvious to you that Cardinal Copia cares about you. A sudden thought strikes you moments before you fall asleep; if he had escorted you back to your bedroom, you would have invited him to spend the night and you wouldn’t have regretted a second of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it!


	8. Chapter 8

Sitting on a barstool in a crappy bar in the middle of nowhere wasn’t exactly how you had pictured spending your Wednesday night, but you needed to do something to drown out your own thoughts. You had picked a bar far enough out of town that you wouldn’t run into anyone you know, but close enough that a taxi fare back home wouldn’t bankrupt you. 

Cardinal Copia hadn’t mentioned anything about your little breakdown during the full moon party and you didn’t feel like bringing it up either. The more you thought about his tender gestures, the more it sent your mind down a path that it really shouldn’t be going down. On Monday night, you had woken up in a sweat after a particularly x-rated dream about your Cardinal. It had made it difficult for you to look him in the eyes the next day. It was all his fault for being so damned caring and attentive. You wouldn’t be having these problems if he was more like the others. 

The music and the atmosphere in the bar was terrible, but you didn’t feel like going back home just yet. If you were still friends with Eli, you could have dragged her along, but she had made her choice. You ordered another drink and scrolled mindlessly through your phone. 

A shadow crosses in the way of the light. “Hey sexy, I’ve been watching you for a while now and you look like someone who could use some company.”

You turn your attention from your drink to the man next to you. “Sorry, but I’m not interested.” If he thought that calling you sexy was all it took to have your attention, he was wrong. You came out to drink, not to pick up some random guy. 

“Why did you dress like that and come to this bar if you don’t want someone hitting on you? Do you think you’re too good for me or something?” his words were slurred and it was obvious that he had had one too many beers. 

You ignore him and turn back to your drink. 

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” he grabs your shoulder and turns you around to face him.

“No, you’re talking at me, there is a difference. I told you that I’m not interested, now please leave me alone.”

By now a couple of new men who you guess must be his friends make their way over to the two of you. By the smell of liquor on their breath, they are equally as drunk as he is. You’re really not in the mood to be putting up with anyone’s shit. You just want to have a nice calming, distracting drink, far away from Cardinal Copia and thoughts about what his moustache would feel like between your legs. 

“Whatever, you’re an ugly looking whore anyways,” he says. His friends behind him laugh with him like it is the funniest thing they’ve ever heard. 

“What did you call me?” you ask, feeling anger rising in your chest. Normally you couldn’t care less what names drunken men called you, but being called a whore was a different matter entirely. It reminded you of the horrible things your father used to say to you before you ran away. It made your blood boil in your veins just hearing the word. 

“I called you an ugly whore, do you have a problem with that?” again the men and his two sidekicks laugh. 

You stand up off your barstool and look him straight in the eyes. Suddenly you are struck by just how much taller than you he is, even with your heels on. But almost everyone you come across is taller than you, and that has never made you back down before. “You really shouldn’t speak to a lady like that.” 

“I don’t see a lady, all I see is a whore,” he says it with a smile plastered across his face.

“Probably a cheap one too,” one of his friends chimes in. 

Before the first man knows what is happening, you draw back your fist and punch him straight in the nose. You feel the bone crack and break under the force of the blow. Blood instantly starts pouring from his nose and soaking his shirt. 

One of the other men grabs your dress, trying to pull you away from the bleeding man. However, the weak fabric of your dress tears apart, exposing your bra. You wrap your arm around your chest before your dress can fall down. You stagger away from him as he moves closer towards you. The man whose nose you had broken advances from the other side, still clutching his bleeding nose. The third man comes at you from the front, effectively backing you into the wall and making it so that you couldn’t escape. You look around wildly for help, but everyone else in the bar pretends that nothing is happening. The bartender isn’t even interested in acknowledging your existence, let alone calling the police to break up the fight. You’re utterly alone here. 

As the men advance closer, you step back, until your back is pressed up against the wall. You don’t see the first punch coming, but you certainly feel it as it slams into your stomach. You double over in pain, collapsing onto your knees on the floor. The blow knocked the air out of you, and you struggle to catch your breath. Punches and kicks rain down on you and there is nothing that you can do except curl into a ball and protect your face. You feel a stray kick knock into the side of your head and blood begins to pour down your face. If you manage to make it out of this, you are going to be covered in cuts and bruises tomorrow. One of the men lands a sharp kick to the side of your ribs and you cry out in pain. It doesn’t feel like anything is broken, but the pain nearly makes you black out. You do your best to crawl away, but there is nowhere to go, your back is still pressed up against the wall. 

A door slams open near you and someone bursts through it. You can’t see anything except for the large, imposing shadow that the person casts. The three men surrounding you are pulled away. But before you can discover who had pulled the men away, you black out. 

____________________________________________________________________________

You wake up in a cold and damp room. The walls are painted a dark blue, and you’re lying on a thin plastic covered mattress. There aren’t any windows, just a heavy metal door with a slot in the middle. There is a white light above your head, so bright that it is almost blinding. You look around, desperate for a hint of where you have been taken, you guess that it must be a police holding cell, but you don’t know for certain. You wrap your arms tighter around your body, holding your torn dress in place and sit up. You can feel dried blood on your face, but it doesn’t feel like any of your bones are broken. It hurts your ribs every time you breathe. As your eyes adjust to the brightness, you scan the room, taking in as much detail as possible. There isn’t even a security camera in the room, anything could happen to you in here and no one would believe you. 

Without any warning, the heavy door swings open. A man in a police uniform steps into the room. You read the logo on his shirt. Now you know for certain where you are, and it wasn’t a good place to be. This particular police station was known for being particularly hostile towards the Church and its members. The officer is holding a heavy baton in one hand, and caressing it with the other. It is a lewd and menacing gesture that does exactly what he intends, you’re absolutely terrified. 

“About time you woke up,” his voice was deep and had a sharp edge to it.

“W-What time is it?” you ask.

“3am,” he answered.

“C-Can I have my phone call please?” you’re being as polite as possible. You don’t want to risk angering this man. No one knew where you were, it would be easy for you to turn into just another mishandled missing person case. 

The officer scoffs at you, “not a chance whore. You can call your pimp to come get you in the morning.”

“I-I’m not a sex worker,” you say. 

“That’s not how the men you assaulted tell it.” The officer smiles at you and you can see that he is missing a few teeth. 

“They’re lying!”

“Now why would good, honest Catholic boys like them lie?” 

You don’t say anything. It’s obvious that you won’t win an argument with him, or anyone else in this building. You’re too scared to be angry, all you want to do is go home, back to where you know that you are safe. 

The officer takes your silence as an invitation to continue talking. “I don’t know why the good people around here didn’t run you and your devil-worshipping whore buddies out of this city years ago. You’re all like a disease spreading your unholiness everywhere. If I had my way, your church would suffer from a mysterious fire.”

Your mouth drops open in disbelief. 

“Tell whoever you want little whore, no one would ever believe you,” with those final words he backs out of the door and slams it behind him. 

____________________________________________________________________________

What feels like hours later, the same officer comes back to escort you to the phone. There is no one else you can rely on. You have no choice but to call Cardinal Copia. Nervously you dial the number for his office and then the extension number for his private room. Your hands shake as they grip the receiver. 

The Cardinal picks up after the first ring. 

“Cardinal Copia, I’m so sorry to disturb you sir. I know that it’s early in the morning.”

“No, no Gabriel, it is fine. I was already awake anyway. What is wrong?”

“I went out for a drink last night and I was arrested. I”m still being held at the local police station,” you explain. You can hear your own voice quivering in fear as you speak. “Can you please come and get me?”

The other end of the line is silent and for a moment, you are even more terrified that Cardinal Copia will hang up on you. You have no idea what you will do if he won’t come and get you. After what feels like an eternity, finally the Cardinal speaks, “I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

Before you can say anything else, Cardinal Copia hangs up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Gabriel, things just keep getting worse for her. (I swear it's not my fault :D )  
> So this part was originally longer, but it got too long and I decided to split it in two. The next chapter will be out next week!


	9. Chapter 9

You’re escorted back to you cell by a different officer. This one grips onto your arm like a vice and pushes you around. You almost stumble into a wall, but he takes no mind and keeps pushing. You have no choice but to sit and wait for Cardinal Copia to come and bail you out. You have no idea how much it will cost financially, but you already have a sinking feeling that the Cardinal won't want you as his assistant any longer after this. You can’t stop the tears from falling down your face. If only you had just kept yourself calm, you wouldn’t be in this situation. Once again, your temper got the better of you. You had no one to blame but yourself, and now you are going to lose everything as a result. Clutching your torn dress tightly to your body, you curl up in a ball and lay down on the bench. You screw your eyes shut and try your best to ignore the piercingly bright light. Screwing your eyes shut also helps you to hold your tears back. Everything in you just wants to let go and cry until there is nothing left inside you, but you can’t. It isn’t safe here. If you show any sign of weakness, you’ll be devoured whole. Everything just kept falling apart around you and there didn’t seem to be anything you could do to pull yourself back together. 

You feel yourself begin to fall asleep when the door slams open. The original officer, the baton-wielding psychopath stepped in. The look on his face was unreadable, but you got the distinct impression that he wasn’t happy. He grabs you by the arm and hauls you out the door behind him. He doesn’t speak at all as he drags you out into the waiting room.

Your eyes land on Cardinal Copia, standing in the middle of the room. At the sight of him, you feel an instant sense of relief. He came. 

The Cardinal’s eyes widen as he looks at you, startled by your bloodied appearance. Without a word he holds his hand out to you and you take it. He places himself between you and the officers. Cardinal Copia pulls off his suit jacket and places it over your shoulders. He looks away as you stuff your arms through the holes and do up the buttons. Now you don’t have to worry about anyone seeing parts of your exposed skin that you don’t want them to see. One of the pockets is weighed down by something heavy, but you aren’t about to go snooping through the Cardinal’s pockets. You can’t stop yourself from shaking both from the cold and from your own fear. The Cardinal doesn’t look like he is angry with you, but you’ve never actually seen him angry, so you have nothing to compare with. 

Cardinal Copia leans closer to you so that he can whisper in your ear, “are you cold?” 

You can’t look at him, so you just nod. 

His finger slips under your chin and forces you to look up. Cardinal Copia’s eyes roam all over your bloody face and his lip curls in disgust. He’ll definitely fire you after this. You’ve caused him nothing but problems. Cardinal Assange had been correct about you all along. Cardinal Copia drops your chin and you look away, eyes glued to the floor. 

His moves his arm closer to you and you flinch, terrified for a moment that he will strike you. Instead he wraps the arm around your waist and pulls you against his side. Instantly you feel his warmth seeping into you. Out of reflex your hand comes up and clings to his shirt.

“You are safe now Gabriel,” he whispers to you. “I won’t let them do anything more to you. I promise.” 

You nod again, unable to do anything more. He is being too kind. The Cardinal is always too kind to you. You don’t deserve his sympathy or his comfort, and you certainly don’t deserve his protection. He would be better off with literally anyone else as his assistant. You’re so distracted by your own thoughts that you don’t even notice that Cardinal Copia is arguing with the police officers who had arrested you. 

The pain in your head had been growing steadily until you could feel every beat of your heart pounding against your skull. You clutch tighter onto Cardinal Copia’s shirt, your knuckles turning white at the strength of your grip. You rest your head against his chest and screw your eyes shut as the room begins to spin around you. You feel the Cardinal tighten his grip on you, but he doesn’t take his attention away from the officers in front of you.

You’ve already stopped listening, unable to keep up with everything that is being said. Cardinal Copia is furious, but it isn’t a violent fury, it’s a cold and calculated anger. He never once raises his voice, he simply keeps his voice at the same volume and speaks. But you can feel the malice and hatred in his tone. If his cold anger had been directed at you, you would be terrified, but hearing it directed at someone else was oddly comforting. 

Beneath being comforting it also stoked the fires of arousal inside of you. You can’t stop yourself from imagining Cardinal Copia, full of rage, his hand holding a tight fistful of your hair as he bends you over and fucks you roughly from behind. He would be rough and demanding, but somehow still gentle. A sharp tug of your hair would make you cry out, but he would soothe your pain with soft kisses all over your neck and down your spine. You shake your head and chase the lewd fantasy away. As you shake your head, a stab of pain from your headache rips through you. You wince and cling tighter to Cardinal Copia. 

The Cardinal continues talking to the officers, their voices becoming droning sounds in your ears. You just want the officers to just get on with it and let you go. All you want to do is crawl into the shower, then into bed and sleep for the rest of the foreseeable future and maybe grab something to eat along the way. 

After what feels like an eternity later, the talking stops abruptly. You force your eyes open and look up at Cardinal Copia only to find him watching you. There is concern etched on his face. You give him a smile, but it’s weak. He doesn’t say anything, just gently turns you and leads you out of the police station. The Cardinal keeps his arm securely around your waist, keeping you close at all times. 

The large ghoul, Aether, is standing by the car with his arms crossed defensively over his chest. It makes him look even bigger and more intimidating. You smile and thank him as he opens the door for you. As gracefully as possible you slip into the car and shuffle over to make room for your Cardinal. There is a lot of space, but Cardinal Copia slides in right next to you, his leg pressed up against yours. The arm that had been around your waist earlier is now wrapped across your shoulders. Neither of you say anything as you lay your head on his chest. Being this close to your Cardinal is warm and comforting. He really is becoming a knight in shining armour for you. Part of you hated how pathetic you must seem right now, but the rest of you only cares about keeping the Cardinal close. 

Aether starts the car and drives away quickly, leaving a spray of gravel in the car’s wake. 

After a few minutes of silence, you find the courage to speak. “Thank you Cardinal, I’m so sorry for all the trouble and inconvenience I keep causing you,” you mumble quietly. You still can’t look at him. The shame is too much. You wish that the ground would open up beneath you and just swallow you whole. 

“You are far from an inconvenience to me.”

“But I-”

“You really shouldn’t argue with your Cardinal, Gabriel.” You feel his lips press against your forehead. It is such a soft touch that you almost don’t feel anything at all. 

Finally you look up at Cardinal Copia, “thank you.”

His eyes roam your face, following the path of blood that covers it, “how do you feel? Maybe we should take you to the hospital?”

You shake your head, “I’m alright. I just have a headache. It’ll go away soon.” 

“It could be something worse Gabriel, you worry me.”

“I’m fine Cardinal, really. I’m just tired and hungry, that’s why my head hurts.”

His eyes widened at you, “I should have brought you some breakfast! There is a McDonald’s on the way home, is that okay?” he sounds slightly panicked that he didn’t bring anything for you to eat, but it didn’t bother you in the least. You are just grateful that he had come. 

Whatever was in Cardinal Copia’s pocket wriggles around and Francis pops his head out. “Oh hello sweet boy, I didn’t know you were in there.” You stroke Francis between the ears, “I think he wants McDonald’s too.” 

“He can have the salad,” Cardinal Copia says giving the rat a fake glare. 

The rat clambers out of the pocket and stretches out on your lap. You stroke your fingers through his fur, “but he is such a good boy,” you protest. “Doesn’t he deserve some fries at least?”

Francis looks from you, to the Cardinal, staring at him with his large black eyes. You look at the Cardinal as well, doing your best to plead with your eyes. 

The stern look on Cardinal Copia’s face melts, “fine,” he says with a dramatic sigh, “but you are the one who has to share with him, not me.”

You smile at him and for the first time since he came to rescue you, he smiles back. He reaches into the door pocket and pulls out a bottle of water and hands it to you. You gulp most of the water down in a single go, not realising how thirsty you were until that moment. You can feel his eyes searing into you, but he doesn’t say anything. Sometimes his silence is the most confusing thing in the world. 

The car pulls to a stop at the McDonald’s drive-thru. Aether must have been listening to your conversation, or he was psychic. You hope that it’s the former, because the thought of a mind-reading ghoul was terrifying. Cardinal Copia orders one of everything on the breakfast menu and pays before you can protest. During the ride back home, you share your food bite for bite with Francis, who after all the food is finished, promptly curls up in a ball and goes to sleep on your lap. The chubby rat makes you smile, but Cardinal Copia was right, he did need to go on a diet. 

You catch the Cardinal watching you from the corner of your eye. He had been doing it all throughout the time you had both been eating. The hand that isn’t on you shoulder is clenching and unclenching into a fist. He is nervous about something, but he can’t say what.

Before you can ask him what is wrong, he leans over and pulls a handkerchief out of the top pocket of his suit jacket. “L-Let me clean the blood off your face.”

You nod at him, suddenly lost for words in the face of his loving gesture. There was no other way to describe it. At the very least, it was a gesture born of loving concern. Maybe Cardinal Copia was having the same kind of restless nights that you were. You wonder if he touches himself to thoughts of you. 

Tenderly he cups your face and dabs the dried blood away. He is so close that you can feel his breath against your skin. His eyes are focused on their task but yours are free to roam his face. His soft green eye has flecks of a darker green and brown swimming in it. The white eye still unnerves you slightly, but it suits him. In a way his eyes are like a metaphor for his personality. The white eye, like his strangeness frightens people off, but his green eye is soft and kind, just like he is if you take the time to get to know him. Now that he is so close to you, you can see his freckles. You had noticed them before, but now you could study them, map them out across his face. Your eyes are drawn inevitably downwards to his lips. They look so soft and plump, perfect for kissing. You can’t. You shouldn’t. But right now there is nothing else you would rather do. 

He makes a move to push your hair away from your left eye, the eye that has a scar running through it. Out of reflex, you knock his hand away. 

Cardinal Copia looks at you, shocked at how forcefully you had pushed him, “I’m sorry Gabriel, I didn’t mean to upset you,” his voice wavers. “I just want to help.”

“I-It’s not your fault Cardinal. I’m sorry,” your own voice wavers now too. Everything is catching up with you, but you don’t want to cry all over Cardinal Copia again. He’d seen you cry more in the past week than some of your former lovers ever had. “I-I have a scar. It doesn’t hurt, I just don’t like people to see it.” 

“Can I ask what happened?” His voice is soft and full of genuine concern. It’s enough to make you melt right there in his arms. 

You take a deep breath, “the first time I tried to run away from my family, my father caught me. He was a big fan of physical punishment, he liked to use his belt. When he caught me, he made me an example of me.” You don’t know why you’re spilling your secrets to the Cardinal, but once you start, you can’t seem to stop talking. “He just kept hitting and hitting until he ran out of energy. Most of the scars are on my back, but a stray blow hit me in the face. I can see perfectly out of the eye. I just hate the scar and everything it represents.”

Cardinal Copia looks at you, speechless, but his face races with emotions. 

“It’s okay now, I got away and no one knows where I am. I miss my brothers every day, but I think that if I had stayed, I wouldn’t be alive right now.” You shrug, trying to play down the seriousness of your words. You should have kept your mouth shut. 

His fingers holding your face rub softly back and forth. You watch as his eyes dart down to your lips. He leans closer and you can’t stop yourself from leaning closer as well. 

The car comes to an abrupt stop and you both lurch forwards. The spell is broken and Cardinal Copia looks away unable to make eye contact. You can see that he is blushing, but it matches your own blush. 

His fingers are still cupping your chin, but when he finally looks back at you, the look in his eyes is different. “I am your Cardinal now and I’ll protect you.”

Before you can think of anything to say, Aether opens the car door and the conversation is over. 

____________________________________________________________________________

The Cardinal helps you sneak in so that no one sees you and asks questions. He’d been at the church for far less time than you, but he already knows more secret passageways and abandoned routes than you can imagine. It must be how he has managed to avoid his small but persistent band of stalkers so far. 

Cardinal Copia let you have the rest of the week off, but you told him firmly that you would be in bright and early tomorrow morning. He doesn’t bother to argue with you. 

Before you part ways, you grab Cardinal Copia by his shirt and bring him down to your height. “Thank you for everything Cardinal,” you say so quietly that it’s almost a whisper. You press your lips against his cheek, kissing him. As quickly as it happens, you let him go and dart off down the abandoned corridor. You’re too scared to look back and see his reaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So close! But not yet!
> 
> In just under a month I'll be seeing Ghost for the first time in Calgary and meeting Cardinal Copia! It's a long flight from NZ to Canada, so I should get plenty of writing done <3


	10. Chapter 10

Cardinal Copia brushes his fingers through your hair, taking ahold of the strands and using them to pull you closer. His lips are so close to yours that if you move, they’ll be pressed together. You don’t just want to feel his lips on yours, you need to feel it. But he keeps you just out of reach, teasing you. His eyes bore into yours like he is searching for something. It’s an intense stare, but you don’t dare look away from him. You fear that if you look away, he’ll make you leave. It feels like an eternity passes as he stares at you. Without a word his other hand wraps around your waist and pulls you flush against him. At the same time his lips finally brush against yours. His tongue trails slowly along your bottom lip and you part yours to let him in. It’s soft and so unbelievably gentle that you almost don’t believe it's real. You feel yourself just melting in his arms. At this point he could ask you for anything and you would give it to him. His tongue slides against yours as he grabs your hips, pressing his erection into your stomach. With each slide of his sweet tongue, he grinds his pelvis into yours. It’s enough to make you moan out in anticipation. 

In a whirlwind of hands removing clothing and pressing against skin, you’re both naked. His chest is broad and covered in a light coating of dark hair that leads down to what could only be described as a very impressive cock. You have a feeling that he will be able to take your breath away in one easy thrust. His cock is thick and long, straining to be touched. You don’t waste any time teasing him, you drop to your knees and trail your tongue over his length. You take as much of him into your mouth as possible, bobbing your head up and down quickly over his length. He tastes salty. His hand finds its way back into your hair and he guides your actions. He thrusts his hips forward, forcing more of his cock down your throat. Your eyes water and you gag, struggling to pull in air. The Cardinal gives you a sympathetic look, like he didn’t mean to get so carried away. 

He lets go of your hair and helps you to your feet. He never speaks, just uses his hands to guide you to where he wants you to be. 

Cardinal Copia lays you out on the bed and settles between your legs. His gloved hands trail over your thighs, spreading you wide for him. His lips follow his hands, caressing and touching you sensitive flesh. His moustache tickles and scratches at you. It’s an unfamiliar feeling, but one you know you will quickly come to enjoy. He grazes his tongue over the lips of your pussy, groaning at the taste. Teasing you for a few moments before swirling his tongue over your clit. You moan his name and your hand finds its way into his hair, trying to hold him in place. The Cardinal knows how to use his tongue. He alternates between circling your clit and flicking it back and forth with his tongue. Rapidly you can feel your orgasm building. You grind your hips up to his face, desperate to cum on his tongue. 

Before you can cum he stops the movement of his tongue. You sigh in frustration, so close to your goal. The Cardinal shots you an apologetic look, his hand stroking up and down on his cock. His eyes dart from you to his cock, asking one final time for permission. You bite your lip and nod your head. Knowing that he is going to fill you up more than anyone else ever has before. 

Teasingly slowly, he sinks his length inside of you. You gasp at the stretching sensation, digging your fingernails into his shoulders as he goes. Once he is fully sheathed he lets out a deep moan of his own. He peppers kisses all over your neck as he begins to slowly thrust his hips in and out of you. You wrap your legs around his waist and move your hips to meet his thrusts, trying to encourage him to move faster. He gets your hint and quickens his pace. With each hard thrust he brushes against your g-spot. Within a matter of moments you are back on the edge of your orgasm. His forehead is pressed against yours and you find yourself gazing into his mismatched eyes as you balance on the edge. 

Just as you are about to cum, a loud blaring noise jolts you back to reality. Cardinal Copia disappears before your eyes, replaced by the darkness of your bedroom. You reach over and stop the alarm on your phone, half tempted to throw it across the room. You’re covered in a layer of cold sweat and between your legs is covered with your own slickness. It had all been a dream that is now rapidly fading away from you. 

You choke back a frustrated cry, your body aching for more. Every last piece of your body wants your Cardinal back in your arms. 

You slide your hand slowly down your body and into your panties. You close your eyes tightly and picture Cardinal Copia slamming his length into you. Your fingers circle around your clit as your mind scrambles to hold onto anything you can of your dream. You rub your finger around your clit faster and faster, desperately whining and moaning his name. It isn’t enough, so you slip two fingers inside of yourself. Pushing them in and out, pretending it’s Cardinal Copia. Rapidly, the coil of pleasure builds in your stomach and with one last circle of your clit, you come undone. His name spills repeatedly from your lips as you ride your fingers through your orgasm. It’s not enough. You need the Cardinal. 

____________________________________________________________________________

It was always difficult and more than a little embarrassing to face Cardinal Copia in the morning. While you days working by his side were normal, your nights were the exact opposite. Every single night you had some sort of x-rated dream about Cardinal Copia. You have never thought about someone as much as you think about him. You’ve certainly never touched yourself this much over one person before either. You don’t want to admit it to yourself, but Cardinal Copia has captured you completely. 

An uneventful week at work had passed since your arrest, and to be honest you were thankful for the calm. Cardinal Copia hadn’t brought up your arrest, but he always made sure to ask how you were feeling. Your ribs still ached, and you were covered in cuts and bruises, but you were healing quickly and soon the damage would be gone. The Cardinal also never brought up you kissing him on the cheek. You didn’t know if you should be happy or sad about that. 

In the time that you have spent with him, you have become completely accustomed to Cardinal Copia. You could read his mannerisms as if he were a book. Which was helpful because he didn’t do a lot of speaking. He muttered to himself whenever he was deep in thought, or stuck on a particularly difficult piece of text. If he is particularly anxious, he’ll stutter slightly and twist his fingers together. He’s incredibly shy and hardly talks to anyone else. He seems to enjoy observing people rather than talking to them. The way he just watches without saying a word makes a few of the Siblings of Sin nervous. Most of them thought that he was creepy and they would dart out of his way if he came near, and whisper behind his back once he passes. If what they were doing was obvious to you, then it was also clear to Cardinal Copia. Perhaps the most admirable part of it all was that he doesn’t seem to give a shit. He just keeps doing whatever he wants. You want to snap at the whispering Siblings of Sin, demand that they show him more respect. The one time you had turned to do just that, Cardinal Copia had taken a hold of your arm and gently guided you away. He hadn’t explained himself, he just gave you a look that suggested it would be better if you left things alone. 

They don’t see him the way that you do. When he is around just you, he makes terrible jokes that sometimes are so unfunny that they are hilarious. You’re convinced that you have never laughed so much around someone before. 

He makes you work hard, but you know that he works twice as hard as you do. Your Cardinal is also endlessly patient with you. He is an expert at Latin, effortlessly translating things as he goes. You on the other hand blunder through paragraphs like you are a child still learning to read. You get things done, but you know that you slow him down. He would be better of just doing it all by himself, but he waits for you. Completing other tasks as you stumble along. If you mess up and translate things too literally, he instantly picks it up. He is never mad, or even annoyed with you. Instead, he takes his time and explains things. The Cardinal was sweet, kind and gentle, but aside from Jessica, you were the only one who knew. Perhaps it was best that only the two of you knew his true nature. Many of the Siblings of Sin would be all over him if they knew what he was really like. In your current lust-filled state, you don’t think that you can handle the thought of his warm gloved hands on anyone else. 

There was only one thing you could do, and that was to seek guidance from your favourite Papa at confessional that night. It would be a little embarrassing for you to admit out loud to some of the things that you have been dreaming about. But you couldn’t carry on the way you were now. It felt like you would explode. 

____________________________________________________________________________

The former Papa Emeritus II was holding confessionals tonight. When he was Papa, the line to confess to him would be stretched all around the inside of the church, but now, there was only a handful of people waiting. The loss of his title and right to wear skull paint had taken a toll on his pride, but he never shows it. You can’t help but admire his determination, Papa II still stands just as tall and is just as intimidating as ever. 

You’re the last to join the queue to speak with Papa II, so you make yourself as comfortable as possible on the pew and wait. It only takes about an hour before you are the only person left. You duck low and enter into the confessional booth, feeling a little nervous for some reason. 

“Hello Papa,” you say softly.

“Not anymore Sister,” Papa II responds gruffly.

“It feels wrong to call you anything else, please forgive me.”

“It’s alright,” this time, his voice is softer. “What do you need to confess?”

“Someone has come into my life recently and ever since then, I can’t get him out of my mind. I’ve had the most lewd and fantastic dreams about fucking him until I physically can’t anymore. It’s become a nightly occurrence and it’s driving me to the brink.” 

“That doesn’t sound so bad Sister. You could just fuck him.” The way he said it made it seem like the most obvious choice in the world, but it wasn’t that easy for you. 

“I can’t do that,” you say with a sigh. “Maybe if I was just having wild sex fantasies, but I’ve also dreamt of making love to him. Under candlelight, slow and sweet all night long.”

Papa II hummed, “again, it doesn’t sound so bad Sister. A little sappy for my liking, but not a bad thing. Tell me why you can’t just fuck him.”

You take a deep breath, “oh Papa, I don’t even know where to begin.”

“At the start is usually the best idea,” his voice drips with sarcasm. 

“He is my direct superior. He is shy and quiet, but he is also so sweet and kind. He always seems to be around when I need him. If I sleep with him, things between us will change. He seems like the type to want a relationship, and I’m still not ready for that. The last time I let someone in, they cheated on me and broke my heart.”

“You’re punishing him for the sins of another.” 

“I know, but I don’t think that my heart can handle losing anything else at the moment.”

There is only silence coming from the other side of the confessional. It seems to stretch on forever before Papa II finally speaks. “I understand Sister. You think there are only two options, fuck him and ruin everything, or don’t fuck him and slowly be driven mad by lust.”

“Yes Papa,” you nod even though he can’t see you. “I don’t see a way out of this.”

“There is a third option for you, if you are so inclined.”

“What?”

“Cardinal Assange is throwing a masquerade party at the end of next week. You could disguise yourself, seduce him and then be done with it. You could get him out of your system as it were and nothing between the two of you would have to change.”

You considered Papa II’s words for a moment. The plan was brilliant, sneaky, but brilliant nonetheless. You shouldn’t have expected anything less from your favourite Papa. “The party is by invitation only,” you reply. “Cardinal Assange made a point of not inviting me.”

“You don’t need an invitation to get in, just a password.”

“How would I get this password?”

“A retired Papa, such as myself, could slip you a piece of paper with the password on.” 

“You would do that for me?” you ask in disbelief.

“Of course Gabriel, anything to wipe off that pathetic downtrodden look that has been plastered to your face recently.”

You gasp in surprise, “you’re not supposed to know who I am. Confessions are supposed to be anonymous.”

“Relax child, your secret is safe safe with me,” he slides open the confessional window. He passes a slip of paper through to you.

You take hold of his hand and kiss the place where his papal ring once sat, “thank you Papa. I am forever in your debt.” 

“Think nothing of it child, just be careful with Cardinal Copia. There is something off about him that I can’t quite put my finger on.” 

You nod, his concern for you was genuine and it comforted you. Cardinal Copia was a lot of things, but a threat to you wasn’t one of them. “Yes Papa, I’m always careful.” 

Papa takes in a breath, like he was about to say something else, but the words seem to die in his throat. Now was as good a time as any to bring up something that had been bothering you about him for the past few weeks. Maybe you shouldn’t say anything, but after all the help he has just given to you, it wouldn’t be right not to at least try. 

“May I make a suggestion to you Papa?” All you can see through the window is his white eye, digging directly into your very soul. Maybe you should just keep your mouth shut instead. Even without his skull paint, or his rank as Papa, the Second was a very intimidating man. 

“Choose your words carefully. I may not be Papa anymore, but that does not mean I will follow the directions of a child.” 

“You miss her don’t you?” you ask, not bothering to wait for a reply. “She misses you too. But I know you are both too stubborn and proud to say anything.”

Papa II grunts but doesn’t tell you to shut up.

“I don’t know what you fought about, but I don’t think it would be enough to make her hate you. Extremely mad perhaps, but not hate. Bring her flowers and start from there. Don’t plan every word, it’s not a speech in front of the clergy, it’s just you and her.”

Papa II closes his eyes and is silent for a long time. It’s a little unnerving, but he hasn’t dismissed you, so you can’t just get up and leave. “What if she won’t see me?” his voice is small. 

“All you can do is try Papa, if you don’t try, you will regret it.”

“How did you know?”

“I’m not the only one who has been skulking around like a kicked puppy.”

“The things I said to her-” he trails off. 

“Apologise. Beg for her forgiveness if you have to, but don’t just leave things as they are. It’s hurting the both of you to be apart, I can see it as clear as day.” 

More silence on the other side of the confessional. It was nerve wracking, just waiting for him to say something. Anything. 

“You’re right Gabriel,” he sighs. “You’ve given me something to think about. You are dismissed.”

You dart out of the confessional and out of the church. You move quickly so that Papa II can’t change his mind about dismissing you. You make your way back to your bedroom to prepare for another long night of trying to sleep. As you prepare for bed, you run Papa II’s plan through your mind. It doesn’t sound any less absurd the more you think about it. Crashing Cardinal Assange’s party just to attempt to get Cardinal Copia between your legs. It is ridiculous. But it is also the best plan that you have ever heard. All you have to do is find a suitable costume before the end of next week. It shouldn’t be too difficult for you to hide amongst the actual guests of Cardinal Assange’s masquerade party. You just have to make sure that you avoid Assange himself. 

Hopefully your Cardinal wouldn’t be too difficult to seduce. One night would have to be enough to satisfy your urge to have him between your legs. Anything more than that would be far too risky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How'd you like the beginning? ;)


	11. Chapter 11

For the past half an hour you had been standing in front of your bathroom mirror, debating with yourself over what you were about to do. There was no other way to put it, you were sneaking into Cardinal Assange’s party to seduce your Cardinal. It begins to sound more and more ridiculous the longer you think about it. The only good point was that the party has a masquerade theme. If Cardinal Assange discovers you are there, he would have you thrown out. But with everyone wearing masks and costumes, you would fit right in. 

You were wearing a tight black dress that stopped just above your knees. The neckline scooped low enough to show a hint of your cleavage. The dress was devoid of any distinctive designs or decorations. The only attention you want to draw towards yourself was from Cardinal Copia. The best choice would be to dress and simply as possible, yet still showing enough skin to catch his interest in the first place. You weren’t wearing any of your usual jewelry, it was too much to risk the Cardinal recognising something. He was nothing if not attentive to detail. To hide your face you wore a black mask that only covered the top half of your face, stopping just under your nose. The mask was plain except for a gentle covering of silver glitter that made it twinkle under the lights. Finally, to hide your hair, and add a little mystery to your appearance, you wore a black cape with a hood. 

________________________________________________________________

The party had only been going for about 30 minutes before you arrived, but already you could see some of your fellow brothers and sisters of sin indulging themselves, both in alcohol and other members of the clergy. The room was pounding with loud music coming from the speakers set in every corner of the room. The lights had been dimmed.   
A ghoul approached you carrying a tray of drinks. You grab a glass of what you assumed was straight whiskey and downed it in one burning painful go like it was a shot. It tasted awful, but it had the desired effect, your nervousness was beginning to fade away. You grab another glass before nodding to the ghoul in dismissal. 

Your eyes wandered around the room, searching for Cardinal Copia. It didn’t take you very long before you found him. Even though he was dressed the same as every other Cardinal in the room, right down to the same mask, you could tell from a mile away which one he was. There was always an air of slight awkwardness to him, especially in social occasions.  
You moved closer, clutching your glass tightly and pretending to be interested in the paintings adorning the walls. Cardinal Copia stood a few meters away within a small group of Cardinals. His rigid posture betrayed how uncomfortable he was, listening to Cardinal Assange, the ever gracious host talk about something. The rest of the group burst into laughter as if on queue, Copia followed a moment later. Either he hadn’t caught the joke or he hadn’t been listening to a word Assange had been saying. Knowing Cardinal Copia, he hadn’t been listening, his attention tended to drift away every now and again. Another round of laughter erupts from the group, and you watch as Cardinal Copia casually excuses himself to get another drink. 

Now is your moment, if you don’t go after him now, then you’ll never do it. You gather all of your courage and follow Cardinal Copia to the bar. He orders an expensive sounding red wine, taking a small sip before letting out a sigh. He checks the clock on the wall, but it offers him no comfort. Cardinal Copia looks tired, more so than earlier today when you have been working together. It annoys you how much people expect of him, yet they offer nothing in return and they certainly never offer to help. You wouldn’t be surprised if he turned you down just because he would rather catch some sleep. You hoped that wouldn’t be the case though.

You approached him from behind, “Good evening Your Eminence,” as he turns around, you bow your head low, staying silent until he addresses you. 

“Good evening Sister,” Cardinal Copia replies. He moves over slightly, making room for you at the bar next to him.

“Are you enjoying tonight’s festivities?” You hate trying to make small talk, but you can hardly start a conversation by asking him to sleep with you. Such forwardness would probably startle Cardinal Copia more than is productive. 

Cardinal Copia looks at you, his mismatched eyes searching what he could see of your face for a hint of who you were. “Oh, yes, yes, very enjoyable.”

You move closer to him, so that your arm touches against his, “why do I get the feeling that you are lying Cardinal?”

Cardinal Copia chuckles quietly, “that easy to tell eh?”

You take a drink of your whiskey, “only if you know what to look for. I’m sure you could fool Cardinal Assange just fine.”

Loud laughter again comes from the corner of the room where Cardinal Assange was standing. You catch Cardinal Copia roll his eyes, but you pretend that you didn’t see it. “Is he really that funny?” you asked gesturing your head towards Cardinal Assange. 

Cardinal Copia’s eyes narrowed, “some might say so. But after the third poop joke it gets a little tiring.”

“Well I suppose he just sticks to what he is familiar with.”

“What do you mean?”

“Only that he is full of shit,” you say with a shrug. 

Cardinal Copia lets out a genuine laugh, a smile breaking out across his lips, “true, very true. But if you don’t like him, then why did you come tonight?”

“I have a very important mission to undertake,” you say as you take a final sip of your whiskey. 

“What sort of mission would that be?

You crook your finger, beckoning at Cardinal Copia. He moves closer, and you close the gap, pressing the length of your body against his. With your hands on his chest, you rise up on the tips of your toes until your lips are next to his ear. “It’s a secret mission my dear Cardinal Copia, do you promise not to tell?” you whisper. 

You hear him struggle to swallow, “yes,” he whispers back. He takes a sip of his own drink in an attempt to calm himself down. 

“My mission is to get naked with you on top of me,” your lips graze the shell of his ear with every word.

You feel his body tense, “n-now?” You’re instantly worried that you’ve moved in on him too quickly, but he seems surprised rather than disgusted. 

You drop back down to your normal height, “not right here, right now, even I am not that brazen,” you answer with a teasing smile. “I’ll wait until you get bored with this party, then you can take me back to your room and the real fun can begin.”

“I was bored from the moment I arrived.” He was being unusually blunt, but you weren’t going to complain. 

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” You slipped your left hand down his chest and caught his free hand. His glove was cold against your skin, you wondered if he would keep them on or take them off, you hoped that they stayed on at least for tonight. “Lead the way.”

___________________________________________________________________________

A brisk 10 minute walk along twisting corners and up flights of stairs, you arrived outside the heavy wooden doors of the Cardinal’s quarters. He fumbles with the lock before the door finally swings open.   
You follow him into the room. It’s far larger than yours and decorated with expensive looking Victorian era furniture. Red curtains, the same colour as his cassock adorn the windows. His bed is large and covered in black silk sheets. On either side of the bed is a table with a simple lamp, they cast the only light into the room. In the corner furthest from the window there is a desk stacked high with papers and books. He was going to work himself into an early grave if he kept going the way he was. 

He stood awkwardly near the foot of his bed, hands at his sides, unsure what to do next. Cardinal Copia wasn’t the type to just throw you down on the bed and ravish you, that was more Papa III’s style. He had a certain way with the ladies that sometimes made the Cardinal envious. 

You move to stand in front of him. Reaching up, you pulled the black half-mask from his face, “much better”, you say, tossing it on the bed behind him. You wrap your arms around his neck and pull his face down to yours. You brush your lips against his in a barely-there kiss, you feel his shoulders tense. You kiss his lips, again and again, until slowly you feel him relax, his lips moving to meet yours. He may have relaxed a little, but his arms are still glued to his sides

Regretfully, you pull your lips away from his. “Are you nervous my dear Cardinal?” you asked. 

“Always,” he answered honestly with a shrug, “so now isn’t any different.”

“Do you want to stop?” You run your fingers gently through his hair, “you don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to.”

He leans into your touch, his eyes closed, “no, but you will have to be patient with me. It has been a while.”

“Of course Cardinal, anything for you.”   
You cup his cheek with one hand, the other remaining in his hair. Gently you resume kissing him, your tongue brushing against his lower lip. Without hesitation, his lips part for you and in seconds your tongues begin to slide together. Caressing and tasting one another. The Cardinal’s hands finally begin to wander, one locking itself around your waist, pulling you tightly against him, the other resting on your ass and kneading softly into the flesh. Cardinal Copia’s touches felt cautious yet hungry at the same time. Eventually, he deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding against yours in a faster, rougher motion. You could continue just kissing him all night, it was the simplest of pleasures, but it felt addicting. But that wasn’t what you were here for, maybe if the circumstances had been different, but they weren’t. This would be a one time only thing. You broke away again, this time his lips chasing after yours. 

“May I know your name?” he asked, his voice shaking slightly.

“I’m no one important Cardinal Copia. My name is of no consequence,” you replied, trying to sound confident. 

“I am sure that isn’t true,” he said, it sounded sincere, “what should I call you?” 

You shrug your shoulders, “you can call me whatever you like Cardinal. The important thing is what name you want me to moan later. Your Eminence?” you dragged your hand down his chest, “Cardinal Copia? Something else?” You undid the thick belt that sat around his waist, tossing it somewhere behind you. Next you moved onto his cape, unfastening it and adding it to the pile. You knew that you should be more careful with his clothes, but your mind focused on getting rid of them more than anything else. 

His breath hitched in his throat, “C-copia is fine.” He loosens his grip on you, giving you space to unbutton his cassock. You stopped halfway down and pushed the garment from his shoulders. Underneath he was wearing a black shirt and pants. You could have screamed in frustration, how many layers did one man need? 

“No titles?” 

He shook his head, “no.” 

“Alright, Copia it is then,” you unbutton his shirt. The temptation to just rip it off was high, but you knew he wouldn’t be happy about that at all. He kicks off his shoes as you undo his belt. Everything drops to the floor, leaving him standing in front of you in just his underwear and his black leather gloves. 

You take a step back to admire Copia under the dim light. His exposed skin is quite possibly the palest you have ever seen. A light covering of hair sits on his chest and trails down his stomach disappearing into his underwear. His cock strains painfully against the material. You run your hand up and down tracing the outline of his erection and cant help but lick your lips. His cock is thick and long, and you know that it is going to take your breath away once he slips inside of you. You give his the head of his cock a light squeeze, Copia groans and his hips buck forward into your touch. 

You lean forward and kiss him, “make yourself comfortable on the bed,” you instruct. 

Reluctantly he pulls away from your touch. Copia finally frees his cock from his underwear, tossing them somewhere in the room. He lays down on his back on the bed, propped up by his elbows, waiting for your next move. Copia watches as you reach behind yourself and unzip your dress, letting it slide down your body and pool at your feet. You leave your hooded cape and black half-mask on. The Cardinal”s mouth opens slightly as he takes in your pale form clad in a lace bra and panties set that is the same stunning red colour as his discarded cassock. His mismatched eyes wander hungrily all over your body, taking in the large swells of your breasts, the curve of your waist and the tattoos adorning your skin. 

You wink at him, “see something you like?”

“Everything,” he blurts out. 

“Such a charmer,” you say as you undo the hooks of your bra and discard it with your dress. Your panties following suit shortly after. You crawl up the bed and lay on your side next to Copia. Being almost completely naked except for your mask and hooded cape and being so close to Copia, alone, in his bedroom, on his bed, you could feel your own nervousness begin to return. Except now there wasn’t any whiskey you could down for some instant courage. You cursed yourself internally. Here you were, finally on the precipice of what you have wanted for so long, and now you are too nervous to take it. But you can tell that Copia is still nervous as well, so it’s up to you to make the first move. 

As if he had the same thought, you and Copia leaned in at the same time, lips and tongues meeting in the middle. The kiss started out as gentle, but soon it was rough and demanding. You wrap your arms around his neck and roll onto your back, pulling him on top of you, your legs tangled together. You can feel his solid length pressing against your stomach and suddenly all of your nervousness has disappeared. You know what you want without any hesitation.   
Copia breaks away from your lips, trailing open mouthed kisses along your neck. His thin moustache scratching at your skin. Your hood gets in the way, but he doesn’t move to push it off. He continues down until he reaches the space between your breasts. Your fingers thread into his hair as he licks at your left nipple. His warm, wet tongue teases your hardened nipple for a few moments before he wraps his lips around your breast, sucking on the flesh.

“Oh Copia,” you moan, your fingernails unintentionally digging into his scalp. 

With a lewd, wet popping sound he lets go of that breast and repeats the same actions with the other one. Your hips buck upwards, dear Satan you need Copia inside of you. He has you moaning and writhing underneath him and he hasn’t even grazed your entrance with his cock yet. You release one hand from his hair, reaching down between your bodies to wrap around his length. His hips twitch into your touch but before you can do much more, Copia grabs your hand and pulls it away, pinning it down to the bed beside him. 

“Not yet Princess,” he pulls his mouth away from your breast. 

“But I need it, I need you Copia,” you say almost begging him. 

His eyes meet yours, a smug look on his face, “you need me eh?”

“Yes.”

Copia places a chaste kiss on each of your breasts. He then trails his mouth down your stomach, leaving open mouthed kisses on your skin. He moves lower and lower until he reaches your mound. Then abruptly he stops and sits up. 

You let out a whimper of frustration. He had been so close to where you wanted him, but he seemingly wanted to test your patience. 

He shuffles himself down the bed a little, giving himself more space. He picks up your left leg and raises it to his shoulder. His gloves are cold against your skin. He leaves soft kisses on your ankle, slowly moving his lips up your leg. His thin moustache grazing the same path causing a delicious contrast on skin that wasn’t used receiving so much attention. He stopped at your knee, then lifted your right leg to his shoulder and repeated the same path. You squirmed under his touch, lifting your hips, desperate for his attention to be directed higher. You felt him smile against your skin. Back to your left leg, he continued his path up your inner thigh. But now he was leaving open mouthed kisses, trailing his tongue along as he went. Kissing, licking and sucking on the soft skin, he made his way to the junction where you wanted him to be. He placed the softest, barely-there kiss on your mound, and you gasped on response. Again he was finally back so close to where you needed him. But once again, you felt his lips smile against your skin before he pulls away. 

You let out a long sigh of frustration, “please Copia,” you beg. 

“Good things come to those who wait. Indulge me little Princess,” he said. Copia moved his attention to your right leg, following the same agonisingly slow pace as he teased your thigh with his mouth. As he gets closer to your entrance, your breathing starts to speed up in anticipation.  
Again he pulls away, but this time he drops your legs on the bed either side of him. You begin to sit up in protest, but you stop as you watch him lower himself to lie between your legs. 

“So wet,” he whispers to himself. Without warning he pushes two cold gloved fingers inside of you. Moving in, curling up, and sliding out, in a slow rhythm. 

“Copia,” you breathe out. Your fingers fisting into the sheets. “More, please, please.” You know how desperate you sound, but you don’t care. Your try to move your hips to speed up his pace, but he holds you in place with his other hand. 

“Anything for you princess.” He drops his head to your entrance and begins to lick your clit in the same agonisingly slow pace as the movements of his fingers. 

You gasp, one of your hands makes it way from the sheets to bury itself in Copia’s hair. He grunts in slight pain, the sound sending vibrations against your clit. He sucks and licks your clit, the pace of his fingers curling inside of you speeds up. He lets go of your hip, letting your movements free. You grind up and down against his tongue and fingers. Now both of your hands have a tight hold on his hair, your thighs twitching on either side of his face. You can feel the pressure in the bottom of your stomach rise up. It won’t be much longer now. 

“Copia, I’m so close,” you moan.

He adds a third finger to his thrusting inside of you, stretching you more. He pushes them in and out, harder and faster. He licks your clit, swirling his tongue around and over it, faster and faster. The pressure is becoming too much for you stand. With one more swipe of his tongue you feel your orgasm crash down on you.   
“Copia, Copia, Copia,” you cry out his name in a breathy chant as you ride your orgasm. You can feel your thighs shaking and squeezing around his face, your fingernails digging into his scalp. 

He continues fucking you with his fingers, his tongue passing slowly over your clit, as you gradually come down from your orgasm. When he feels your body relax and go limp underneath him, he withdraws his gloved fingers from inside of you. He replaces his fingers with his tongue, licking up everything that had spilled from you. You moan softly, feeling another orgasm beginning to build up at his gentle stimulation. Copia takes it as a sign to start thrusting his tongue inside of you. His nose brushes against your clit with every movement and soon your thighs are clenching around his face again. You can’t find the breath to make words, all you can do is moan incoherently as you roll and grind your hips against his face. Quickly you feel yourself approach the peak. His pace quickens and you feel the equiste high of your orgasm roll through your body. Your legs twitch, louder more urgent moans escape from your throat. Copia continues thrusting and swirling his tongue inside of you as your orgasm takes over you. Helping you prolong and ride out your high. 

When you finally come back down from your high, you grab Copia by the shoulders and pull him up towards you. You crash your lips against his. You taste yourself on his lips and tongue as you roll over, pinning him underneath your body. Copia’s erection pokes into your stomach, thick and leaking precum from the tip. Your hand travels down between your bodies, wrapping around his cock. You slowly run your hand up and down his length. 

Copia lets out a strained moan, breaking away from your kiss, “p-please stop, Princess.”

Instantly you do as he asks, “what’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“I am fine, better than fine. Every piece of me wants to just slip inside of you, to feel your hot, wet pussy clench around me. I want us to cum together, as one,” Copia explains. “But I don’t think that I have the energy or the stamina for that tonight my Princess. You deserve to be fucked properly.”

You smile softly at Copia, “you must either be truly mad, or the last gentleman on earth Copia, giving me two amazing orgasms and then refusing to fuck me.” You run your hand down his painfully erect shaft. Copia sucks in a breath, eyes screwing shut at your touch, “I can’t leave you like this though. I could never be so cruel.”

He looks up at you sheepishly, “just keep stroking me please.”

You lick your lips, “I would prefer to use my mouth, unless you have a problem with that?

Copia shook his head, “no-no problem at all.” 

You pull away from him and move to lay between his legs. You place a soft chaste kiss to the head of his cock, precum smearing across your lips. “Where would you like to cum?” you ask.

Copia props himself up on his elbows so that he can watch your every move. He knows that he won’t last long and he doesn’t want to miss a moment of it. “What are you comfortable with Princess?” Copia knows exactly what he wants, it has been such a long time since anyone asked him that question. Even longer since he answered truthfully and received what he wanted. 

“That isn't what I asked dear Copia,” you chide. “After all you have given me tonight, the least I can do is return the favour, don’t you think so?”

“In your mouth,” he says so quietly that it is almost a whisper. 

“Then I will swallow every last drop.”

Without another word you lick a thick stripe from the base of his cock to the tip. Copia’s hips buck upwards and he lets out a soft sigh. At the tip of his cock you leave soft kitten licks, trailing downwards in an agonizingly slow pace. Then you work your way back up, torturing him with such gentle contact. Underneath you Copia moans and strains his hips upwards, seeking more contact. After a few more gentle passes of your lips and tongue along his cock, you decide to finally give him what he so desperately needs. In one smooth motion you open your mouth and take in as much of Copia’s cock as you can. You relax your throat as much as possible so that you don’t gag. You can’t quite reach the base, but you get as close as you can, then you come back up. Bobbing your head slowly up and down his shaft.   
Copia wants desperately to sink his fingers into your hair and have some control over the movement of your mouth as it bobs up and down on his cock. But he can’t so he settles for holding onto the sheets instead, his grip is so tight that his gloves creak in protest. 

You reach down and gently massage his balls, being careful not to apply too much pressure and hurt him. Copia thrusts up into your mouth unexpectedly and you feel his cock hit the back of your throat. You let out a choked sound and hold down one of his hips with your unoccupied hand. 

“Sorry.”

You squeeze his hip in reply, continuing to move your mouth up and down him. You’ve had far less courteous partners in the past, so it didn’t bother you so much. It seemed that the longer you spent in Copia’s bedroom, the more you became enamoured with him. 

His breathing becomes faster, “I’m close,” he warns.

You hum in acknowledgement. The vibration travels down his length and Copia lets out a strangled moan. You move your attention to the head of his cock. The hand on his balls now stroking his shaft. You swirl your tongue around the head, licking and sucking. One last time, you take everything you can into your mouth, your tongue rubbing against the underside of his cock. Barely a moment later, you feel Copia’s body strain, tense and then snap beneath you. He lets out a long, low moan as you feel his hot cum spill down your throat. You continue to suck softly on him while his orgasm rolls through his body. When he finishes you pull away and throw yourself down on the bed beside him, slightly out of breath. 

Copia rolls onto his side, his fingers cupping your cheek. He studies your eyes and what he can see of your face that isn’t hidden by your mask. “Thank you Princess.” Copia leans in and kisses your lips softly. 

“You are most welcome my dear Copia.”

“I haven’t felt anything like that in a long time,” he admits. Copia doesn’t know why he is telling you such a thing, but he can’t seem to stop himself. There is something in the way that you look at him that feels safe and familiar. 

You give Copia a smug smile, “well, I promise that you will feel like that again, sometime very soon.” Absentmindedly you trail your fingers over his chest, drawing different shapes. This was not what you had planned, but you couldn’t help yourself. You adored the awkward but charming Cardinal, and now you wanted to have him all to yourself at night as well as during the day. It wasn’t part of your original plan, but you weren’t going to give him up so soon. 

“You’re coming back?”

“Of course my dear Cardinal, you’re far too talented with your tongue for this to be my only night with you,” you place a soft kiss on his chest. “Besides, I still have to experience what that thick cock of yours feels like pounding inside of me,” you wink at him. 

He lets out a low moaning sound in reply. “With or without your mask?” He finds the courage to ask.

“With,” you answer quickly, you know that if you show any sign of hesitation, the rest of your already failing one-night-stand plan would come crashing down around you. “Keeps things exciting doesn’t it?”

Copia raises his eyebrow at you, “I suppose that you could say that. W-when will you be back?” he asks, his nerves causing him to stutter. He hates how desperate he sounds, but he can’t stop the words from falling from his mouth. He feels a burning need to see you again building up inside of him. Copia doesn’t want to let you go so quickly or so easily.

“I can’t say for certain, you know how quickly things get busy around here,” you say. “It should be sometime this coming week. How about I slip a note under your bedroom door the day before? Or is that not enough warning? I know that you must be busy.”

“One day is enough,” Copia says before adding, “any more than that and I won’t be able to get any work done for the anticipation.”

You stretch your arms above your head, feeling your shoulder joints crack, “now that everything is sorted, I suppose I should be going now.” 

You sit up and reluctantly drag yourself off the bed. The floor is cold beneath your feet and the temperature in the room has dropped, you shiver. You pull your short cape tighter around your shoulders. “Help me find my clothes will you? It’s dark in here,” you ask before picking up his discarded black shirt and tossing it to him. 

Together you gather up the rumpled clothes from the floor. He drapes his clothes over the back of his desk chair while you put on your bra. Copia takes a seat on the edge of his bed, watching as you redress yourself. You catch the slightly disappointed look in Copia’s eyes, you guess he must be a breast-guy. It shouldn’t be at all surprising considering how much attention he gave them earlier. You put your black heels back on before stepping into your dress and sliding it up your body. 

“Let me help you with that,” Copia offers as you struggle with the stubborn zip at the back of your dress. It had been so easy to take off and now of course it was giving you grief. 

Before you can protest, he pulls you close to him, reaches around behind you and does up your zipper. His arms drop around your waist and you rest your forehead against his collar bone. You didn’t expect leaving to be so difficult, but you should have known better. Copia lifts your chin, forcing you to look directly into his beautiful mismatched eyes. He bends to press a soft chaste kiss on your lips, but you immediately decide it isn’t enough and pull him back to deepen the kiss. 

Outside you hear the bells of the Church chime three times, signalling the hour.  
You break apart from him, “shit! I am sorry Copia. I really need to leave now, we both need to get some sleep.”

“You could just sleep here, there is a nice, big bed for you,” he suggests, barely stifling a yawn. 

“If I get back in your bed neither of us will actually sleep, and you my dear Cardinal are tired.”

Copia grunted, “I suppose you are correct,” he eyes travelled over to his desk, “there is still so much to do.”

You gave Copia a sharp look, “sleep only. Don’t you have an assistant you can give some more work too?” 

“I already make her work too much.” It was true, you did the work of two assistants, but Cardinal Copia did even more work. That’s what it took to be ‘employee of the month’ after all. 

“She’ll get over it,” you say trying to sound nonchalant. You don’t want to dwell on the subject of his assistant for very long, lest he find some kind of clue that you were the same person. “I think that is everything I need,” you say looking around for any more discarded clothing. 

“What about these?” he asks, holding out your red lacy panties. 

You give him a wicked smile, “keep them, for now at least. Think of them as a promise that I will be back.” 

A strangled sound escapes from Copia’s throat. “Okay, okay, cool,” he says nodding. He has no idea what else to say. No one has ever given him their underwear before. 

“Goodnight Copia,” you say, tilting your head up to kiss him one last time.

His kisses you back and then watches as you slip out of the door with a final wave goodbye.

Exhausted, Copia pulls back the covers and gets into bed. The sheets are cold against his skin and they have the unmistakable scent of sex on them. He opens his bedside drawer and deposits your panties lovingly inside. His mind races with a million questions about who you are and why you chose him. Copia is tempted to have one of his rats follow you and discover your identity, but you were right, there was an element of fun in the mystery. He closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep almost instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: This is the first chapter that I wrote for this story... I tried so hard to just write a smutty one-shot, but then the Cardinal demanded more love and I had to obey.   
> I hope it lived up to your expectations!


	12. Chapter 12

As the days slowly passed by, it felt like time had almost come to a stop. It was hard to concentrate on paperwork and schedules when all you could think about was the man who shares his office with you. The week had been uneventful so far, but you felt every cell of your body filled with anticipation of what was to come during the weekend. If you close your eyes and concentrate really hard, you can still feel Cardinal Copia’s lips and tongue all over your skin. It was agonising and wondrous all at the same time. You feel you mind wandering at the most inappropriate of times. If the Cardinal noticed anything off about your behaviour, he didn’t say anything. 

As you enter the office, there he is as always, sipping his coffee. He doesn’t have a single clue about the thoughts that have been running through your mind every night. He doesn’t know just how captivating he is. 

“Is something wrong?” he asks, looking up from his newspaper. 

You’ve been standing in the doorway all that time just looking at him. Your fingers are itching to run through his hair. Why does he have to make everything so difficult for you?

“Sorry Cardinal, my mind ran away from me for a moment there.” You try to sound convincing, but who knows if it is really working or not. 

“Don’t let it run too far, it might not come back,” he jokes. 

“I learnt that lesson with my sanity!” you laugh before changing the subject. “Where’s Francis? I saw a cute video of a rat eating a grape and I want to see if he likes them.” You pull a small bunch of grapes out of your pocket. 

A squeak comes from the hole in the wall and a little brown nose pokes out. He sniffs the air before slowly venturing out. 

“I don’t think he’s ever tried grapes before, but you’re welcome to give it a try,” the Cardinal says. 

“Francis, come here please,” you bend down and hold your hand out to him. The chubby boy scampers over and climbs up your hand all the way up onto your shoulder. You walk over to the seat opposite the Cardinal’s desk and sit down. The urge to be as close as possible to him is inescapable. What you really want is to be seated on his lap, with his arms around your waist and his lips trailing all over your neck. But that would never happen. You could never share a moment like that. You’ve already made your final decision. The next time you went to his chambers would be the last. That is just the way that it has to be. 

Cardinal Copia watches as you pass a small grape to Francis. The rat holds the foreign food in his paws, sniffing it, seeming to study it. He looks from the Cardinal, to you and back again. 

“Gabriel brought those especially for you Francis, you should try it,” Cardinal Copia says. His tone of voice is like he is lightly scolding a child, “you know you can trust her.”

“It’s sweet, you’ll like it,” you try to persuade him. “Plus it is fruit, so it is the good kind of sweet.”

Francis studies the fruit for a few more seconds before taking the smallest and most cautious bite possible. He decides that he likes the taste and devours the rest of the grape faster than you thought was possible. Francis stretches his paws out to you for another grape and you happily oblige. 

“I think he likes it,” you say giggling at how quickly Francis is ready for another grape.

“It is food, of course he likes it,” Cardinal Copia replies. “He just has to be dramatic about it first. You should have seen the display he put on when I first tried to give him cheese. Such a baby.”

“You mean such a cute baby,” you rub your cheek against Francis’s fur.

“Is that why you screamed in horror when you first met him?”

“That wasn’t a scream of horror,” you say glaring playfully at the Cardinal. 

“Then what kind of scream was it?”

“It was just a releasing of stress,” you reply. “There is a dorm at a university in Sweden where the students let out a scream at 10pm. They say it is helpful for relieving stress, I was just giving it a test.”

The Cardinal raises an eyebrow at you, “Ah yes, the Flogsta scream. Interesting phenomena, but slightly unnerving if you don’t know about it beforehand.”

“Only slightly?” you pass Francis another grape. “Did you partake in it?” 

“No, I stayed in a different dormitory, far too many people in Flogsta for my liking. I don’t like the idea of sharing a room with strangers.” 

“You’ve been to so many places Cardinal, it’s amazing.” 

“I only studied at Uppsala University for a little while,” he waves his hand dismissively. “Where did you study?”

You feel your face drop, he was going to find out the truth sooner or later, you had just hoped it would have been much, much later. “I was homeschooled up until I ran away. I never went to university,” you say with a shrug. You pass Francis yet another grape as you try to seem as nonchalant as possible, “everything I know, I’ve picked up as I go along. I spent longer than usual as a novice because I had a lot of catching up to do. Things that are common knowledge, I had no idea about. I’m just lucky that the teachers here were patient with me.”

Cardinal Copia studies you for a few moments. His silence drags on until he finally speaks, “I never would have guessed.”

“I guess I’m a quick learner,” you look down. You’ve always wanted to go to university and study as many subjects as possible, but the opportunity has never come your way. You owe everything to the church and you wouldn’t abandon it, and your Cardinal. You have responsibilities, you can’t just run off and chase a foolish childhood dream.

“Do you want to go to university?” he asks.

“Sure,” you try to play down your response. “But I don’t think I’m…” you pause searching for the right word and failing, “I’m just not good enough for something like that.”

Cardinal Copia looks shocked, “nonsense Gabriel. You’re more than smart enough for university.”

You blush, he’s too kind to you, “if you say so Cardinal.” You feel Francis shift his weight on your shoulder, impatient for more food. He takes the grape from you and nibbles it enthusiastically. 

“I do! And I don’t lie about serious stuff like that.”

“Thank you Cardinal,” you can’t stop yourself from smiling at him. “Maybe one day I’ll go, but for now I’m staying right here, with you two.” Now there are only three grapes left, enough for one each. After everything it would be rude not to at least offer one to the Cardinal. “Would you like one Cardinal?” you ask gesturing to the grapes.

“Seedless? I can’t stand the ones with seeds,” he admits.

“Now who is being a baby?”

“Me,” he replies giving you a wicked grin.

Also a cute baby, but there is no way in hell you were going to say that out loud. “Yes, they’re seedless,” you say passing Francis his final grape. 

Cardinal Copia opens his mouth, like he was expecting you to toss it in. You don’t trust your throwing skills, you’d probably hit him in the eye or something. Instead you lean forward and pop the grape into his mouth. You can feel his lips brush against your fingertips and it sets your skin on fire. You feel too hot, and that heat travels all the way up to your face. You know you’re blushing red as a tomato, but you can’t help it. Since when have you been this awkward? You can’t look at the Cardinal, you don’t want to see his reaction. It would be even worse if you looked up and saw he had no reaction at all. 

You pick up the last grape, but before you can shove it in your own mouth, you feel someone staring intensely at you. You look at Francis and it feels like his black eyes are searing a hole directly into your soul. You roll your eyes and let out a dramatic sigh, “here you go,” you say and give it to him. “I wouldn’t want to steal from a good boy like you.” 

“You have to be extra nice to Gabriel now Francis, that was her grape,” the Cardinal scolds. 

“It’s alright,” you smile, “how could I say no to such an adorable face?”

Cardinal Copia sighs, “how do you think he got this fat in the first place? He is too cute for his own good.”

Francis climbs back down you arm and makes his way over to Cardinal Copia’s newspaper. He nibbles at the edges before deciding that he doesn’t like the taste. Instead he curls himself into a ball under the warmth of the desk lamp. 

“Is there anything interesting in the newspaper today Cardinal?” you know that you should be getting to work, but you want to keep talking to him for as long as possible. Just being this close to him is intoxicating. Maybe it is just your imagination, but he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to dismiss you either. 

“There is plenty of the usual death and destruction as to be expected,” he says. He flips the paper around to show you, “this is interesting though.” 

The Cardinal points to a picture of 3 men all dressed in hunting gear and smiling happily for the camera. Above the headline says ’Respected police officers and local man killed on hunting trip.’ 

“I can’t quite put my finger on it, but two of those men look familiar,” he says.

All three of the men look familiar to you and it makes your blood boil to know that they were all friends. “The man on the right and the one in the middle were officers at the station where I was taken. That guy,” you point to the officer in the middle, “was an outright creep. As for the other guy, he’s familiar to me, but he shouldn’t be to you.”

“Oh?” he questions. 

“He is the one whose nose I broke when he called me a whore. It’s his fault I got arrested in the first place,” you explain. 

The Cardinal nods at you, “I see. Well you don’t have to worry about any of them anymore.” There is something off about his tone of voice, like there is an extra emotion underneath it. Whatever it is, you can’t pinpoint it. 

“Did they mistake each other for deer and kill each other? Or have some kind of drunken argument that ended badly?” 

“No, something much worse,” he pauses. “They were apparently attacked by a wild animal and mauled to death. Officials have no idea what kind of an animal is responsible. It happened last Sunday night, but it’s taken until now to confirm the identities because the heads are still missing and the remaining pieces of the bodies are badly disfigured.”

“That’s terrible,” you say. “I mean, I don’t really feel sorry for them, like at all, but it must have been a very painful way to go.”

The Cardinal nods, “mmh, not pleasant at all. But at least there are three less followers of the nemesis alive.” 

“Well, I don’t think they were particularly devout followers of the principles of the nemesis. I don’t think they will be going upstairs anytime soon.”

“More souls for the pit then,” the Cardinal nodded. “Looks like a win for everyone.”

“Except for the poor person who first discovered their bodies. What kind of wild animal eats heads but leaves the bodies?”

The Cardinal shrugs, “no idea, but I’m sure that they’ll find something to blame.”

Before the two of you can talk any further there is a series of loud knocks on the door. As usual, the Cardinal wasn’t expecting anyone, so you just shrug at him.

“Enter,” he calls out. He sounds full of authority, so unlike how he was when he first arrived. You like the sound and not just because it sends tingles down your spine. 

The door creaks slowly open and Jessica wanders in, “sorry to disturb you guys, I know you’re busy and all.”

Carindal Copia turns the newspaper over, hiding the gruesome story from the teenager, “it’s fine. Please have a seat,” he gestures to the seat next to yours at his desk. 

As Jessica comes closer, her eyes widen in fear, “that is one big rat,” she says pointing at Francis. 

Francis uncurls himself and stretches with a yawn.

“Fucking hell, it’s huge!” she exclaims. 

Francis looks at her in a way that you would swear he was glaring. He puffs himself up, making him look even bigger. 

“His name is Francis and he is a very sweet boy,” you say. You beckon for her to come closer, “he is absolutely nothing for you to be afraid of.”

“What if he bites me?” she’s scared, refusing to move any closer. 

“He doesn’t bite unless he is threatened,” the Cardinal explains.

“He’s yours Cardinal?” 

“No, not at all. He is his own rat, he just likes the fact that I feed him. He won’t hurt you Jessica, he is a good boy. A sneaky boy, but still a good boy.” 

Stiffly, she moves closer and sit down in the empty chair. She keeps her arms as close to her body and as far away from Francis as possible. Francis turns his back on her and goes back to sleep. 

After a few more moments, Jessica finally tears her eyes away from Francis, finally satisfied that he isn’t going to attack her or anything else like that. “I have a favour to ask you.” 

“Is something wrong?” Cardinal Copia is instantly alert. You can’t help but think that it’s cute. His protective instinct makes your heart feel strange and you’re not sure how you feel about it. You know that it isn’t a good sign, but you can’t bring yourself to stop. 

“Nope, nothing is wrong,” she smiles widely at him. “I got this piece of paper from the doctor the other day. It has the gender of my babies written on it, but I’m too nervous to open it by myself. Would you do it for me?” Jessica holds out the piece of paper to you. 

You take the paper from her, “just remember, if it’s twin boys, you owe me chocolate.”

“That’s fine, I know it’s a boy and a girl, so it’ll be you who owes me chocolate. And I’m going to pick something fancy and expensive!” 

“You bet on the babies?” Cardinal Copia asks.

“Well, this place does encourage sinning, and gambling is the only bad thing I can do at the moment,” Jessica shrugs. “Besides, I really want chocolate.”

The Cardinal nods in understanding. Absentmindedly, he reaches out and strokes Francis. The rat uncurls slightly and arches up into Cardinal Copia’s touch. You can see that he is awake, but he still keeps his back to Jessica. His feelings must be a little hurt, he does love attention after all. 

“Do you want to make a bet Cardinal? I could always use more chocolate,” she says smiling. 

“I don’t suppose I have much of a choice do I?”

“Nope!” 

The Cardinal sighs, “fine, I bet twin girls, because it’s the only option left.” 

“What do you want if you win?” you ask him.

“I too want fancy and expensive chocolate. None of that cheap stuff, some nice Swiss or Belgian chocolate.”

“Alrighty then, everyone prepare yourself,” you say. You unfold the piece of paper and a wicked smile plasters itself across your face. “Boys!” you pump your fist in the air in victory. 

Jessica’s jaw drops, “I guess my motherly intuition has a long way to go, huh? Now I have to pick out another boys name,” she pauses. “It took me so long to find one I liked, now I have to find an extra one.”

“Well, you have a while to go, I’m sure you’ll find something you like,” you reassure her.

“Don’t remind me!” Jessica exclaims. “I’m only half way through and I already feel like a blimp.”

“It’ll be fine,” you try to console her. “I’m sure that the time will fly by.”

Jessica shoots you a glare, trying her best to be serious, but it’s ruined when she bursts out laughing. “So what kind of chocolate do you want?”

You shrug, “surprise me, but nothing too dark. I don’t like bitter chocolate. Basically, the sweeter the better.”

Cardinal Copia picks up a pen and writes it down on the notepad next to him, “how about we go halves on something?” he asks Jessica. “One really nice thing from the both of us?”

Jessica looks from the Cardinal to you, “is that allowed? We didn’t really set rules for this.”

“It’s fine,” you reply. You know Jessica doesn’t have much money and you don’t want her wasting it on you. But if Cardinal Copia was willing to help her out, you wouldn’t feel so guilty about it.

“Yes! Thank you Cardinal,” she says. “Now, before I leave, I want to hold Francis.”

“Are you sure? I’m not offended that you’re afraid of him,” Cardinal Copia says. “He doesn’t mind either, we are used to it.”

“I’m going to be a mother soon, I can’t afford to be afraid of silly things like rats,” she says with determination. “Plus, the more I look at him, the more obvious it is that he is harmless. Really, really big, but harmless.”

Cardinal Copia stops stroking Francis and the rat turns back around to face you and Jessica. Cautiously, the teenager holds out her hand to him, she’s still a little frightened, but she doesn’t let that stop her. Francis stands on his hind legs and puts his front paws on her hand. With one surprising graceful jump, he hops into her hand. She manages to bring her second hand up just in time to catch his full weight. 

Jessica brings Francis up so that he is level with her face, “he’s actually kinda cute, isn't he?” 

You reach over and stroke the chubby rat, “he is definitely a little cutie, aren’t you Francis?”

Francis makes happy little squeaking noises and leans into your touch. You catch Cardinal Copia rolling his eyes dramatically and give him a smirk. You can’t help but wonder if he is a little jealous of Francis. 

Distantly you can hear the church bells ring in the new hour.

“Shit! I’m going to be late for class,” Jessica announces.

You scoop Francis out of her hands, “don’t run, I don’t want you slipping and hurting yourself. If your teachers have a problem with you being late, you know where to send them.”

“Thank you Sister,” she wraps her arms around your shoulders in a quick hug goodbye. “Thank you too Cardinal Copia. Goodbye Francis,” she waves at you all before getting up and walking briskly out of the door. 

“She is certainly quite the handful isn’t she?” Cardinal Copia smiles, “just like you.” 

You laugh, “all the best people are!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this feels a like a little too much filler...


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very important note at the bottom - please read it :)

Saturday night finally rolls around, and you feel like you have never been more excited about anything in your entire life. You had woken up from yet and lust filled dream about your Cardinal. As much as you desperately want to let your fingers get you off, you decide to wait until you are with Copia. It would be torture until your body calms down, but it would pay off later when you had him between your legs. 

You had spent the morning soaking in the bathtub, making sure that everything was perfect. However, as the time to leave came closer, you couldn’t stop the nervousness from growing in the pit of your stomach. But there was no way you are going to back out of this now. You need Cardinal Copia in the worst and most desperate ways. 

With a final and determined look at yourself in the mirror, you make your way to the Cardinal’s room. 

________________________________________________________________

You watch as Cardinal Copia rounds the corner and comes to a stop in front of his bedroom door. The last time you had seen him, at dinner time on Friday, he had looked exhausted, but now he seemed to have a bit of a bounce in his step. You didn’t want to be too cocky, but you hoped that it was the thought of what was to come tonight that had given him the extra energy. Although, given how many hours he had been working this week, you wouldn’t be surprised if he turned you down with the same reasoning as last time. 

You would be lying if you said that you won't be disappointed, but the poor Cardinal deserves to be treated with compassion. A small part of you is disgusted by how much you just want to take care of the Cardinal, sexually and otherwise. But that part of you was quickly being silenced. Cardinal Copia was an odd, quiet man, but you felt strangely territorial about him. He was everything you could ever want. 

You stepped behind him, your hands on the door on either side of his waist. You pressed him between the door and your body. He tensed up instantly, about to fight back, until he felt your lips press against his neck. Instantly the tension melted away, but he still wasn’t completely relaxed either. 

“Sorry my dear Cardinal, I didn’t mean to startle you like that,” you purr in his ear. “I just saw you and couldn’t keep my hands off you. I’ve been itching to touch you all week long.” 

You could feel the skin of his neck heating up and you knew without looking that he was blushing. He turns around to face you, “it’s fine Princess. Best surprise I’ve had all day.” He twists the door handle and gestures to you, “ladies first.”

You give your hips and extra sway as you walk through the door before him. You hear him groan behind you and you know exactly where his gaze is settling. As soon as you hear the door close, you turn around and pull him into your arms. 

Your hands make their way into his hair and gently you guide his face closer to yours. His mismatched eyes gaze into yours, and it feels like he is looking directly into your soul. It’s a little unnerving, so you break eye contact. You close your eyes and press your lips to his. They are just as soft as you remember, pressing to yours in equal desperation. 

Abruptly, he pulls away. 

“Uhh, before we get started I have to take care of something,” Copia says. “I’ve been drinking a lot of water lately. Good to stay hydrated, especially considering all the physical work we’ll be doing soon. Unfortunately, it also means more bathroom breaks.”

“Don’t be too long, I’ve been waiting all week for this,” you said with a laugh. You stripped all of your clothes off quickly, leaving just your hood and your mask on. You sit down on his bed, eager to get things started. “Do you know how hard it is to sleep when all you can think about is having sex. Satan only knows how wet I’ve been for you all week. Well Satan and my vibrator I suppose.” 

“Do you know how hard it is to pee when you have a boner?” Copia said in a strained voice, still in the bathroom. 

You couldn’t tell if he was trying to be funny or not, but he could always make you laugh and that was one of the things you adore most about him. 

“Am I making it hard for you?” you can barely suppress your giggles as you ask. 

“You’ve been making it hard for me all week!” he exclaimed before letting out an exasperated sigh, “I feel like a teenager again.”

You burst out laughing, “well then, you will just have to come out here and punish me, won’t you?”

“Punish? No, maybe some other time,” he says. “Tonight is all about sharing as many orgasms as possible.”

You bite your lip to stifle a moan, he never spoke much, but when he did his words were always memorable. “That sounds like the best plan I have ever heard.”

“I thought you might like it.” He switches off the bathroom light and comes back into his bedroom. Seeing you already naked and sitting on his bed, he frowns. 

“What’s wrong my dear Cardinal?”

“You already undressed,” he says with a dramatic sigh. “I was looking forward to unwrapping you myself.” 

“Aww, I’m sorry Copia. Next time you can unwrap me,” you wink at him. “This time, I get to be the one unwrapping you.” He’d already discarded his cassock, so at least you have less clothes to fight with this time. 

You stand up and snake your arms around his waist, pulling him flush against you. The fabric of his shirt feels rough against the sensitive skin of your nipples. He isn’t as timid with his movements this time. His eyes roam every inch of skin that they can reach and his hands have made themselves at home kneading into your ass. 

You lean forward and capture his lips with yours, pressing soft kisses to his plump lips. You trail your hands up his chest and begin undoing his shirt buttons. You never break the kiss as you slip his shirt from his shoulders and onto the floor. Skilfully you undo his belt and zipper, letting his trousers drop to the ground. You lick his bottom lip, asking for entrance. He parts his lips for you and you slide your tongue against his. You reach into his underwear and pull his semi hard cock out. You stroke his cock up and down in time with the swirling of your tongue. He moans softly into your mouth and pulls you closer. One of his hands closes around yours as he attempts to quicken your pace. You give him what he wants, letting him guide your movements. 

You continue to kiss Copia, slowly walking him backwards until the backs of his legs hit the bed. Unexpectedly, he drops onto the bed, breaking your kiss and your stroking of his cock. He attaches his lips to your stomach instead, kissing the skin. His moustache leaves a slightly rough trail over your skin as he travels lower down. Copia nips at your hip softly with his teeth. Unconsciously, your body rolls forward into his touch. His hot wet tongue replaces his lips on your skin. Copia drags his tongue lower and lower down your body. Soft whines slips from your throat the moment he stops his trail, just above where you so desperately want him to be. The teasing has left your thighs slick with your own natural lubricant which he scoops up onto his gloved fingertips. He lifts his fingers to his nose and inhales your scent. Such a lewd gesture from your timid Cardinal surprises you, but you don’t say anything. 

“You smell so mouthwatering Princess.”

“I taste even better.”

Copia groans, “I know you do Princess.” He kisses your mound and takes in another deep breath. “May I have a taste?”

“Darling Copia, if you eat me out like you did last time, then you can have a taste whenever you want.” 

He groans again, “a pussy buffet eh? All I can eat?” His breath on your sensitive skin has your legs shaking in anticipation. You want him to stop talking and get down to business. You’ve been waiting all week now it feels like torture to wait even a second longer.

You look down at him and nod, “all you can eat.” 

He slips onto his knees on the floor to get a better angle. Copia’s hands are around the backs of your thighs, gently spreading your legs. His gloves feel amazingly soft against your skin. Copia doesn’t waste any more time as he slips two long fingers inside of you. He moans as they enter you, his eyes watching intensely as he thrusts his fingers in and out of you. His cock twitches and strains upwards, aching to be touched. Copia leans forward and sucks your clit into his mouth. You cry out at the sudden movement and you hips grind forwards to gain more contact. 

In a matter of moments you can feel your orgasm building. You grip tightly onto your Cardinal’s shoulders. Clinging to him in order to keep standing. Your fingernails dig so deeply into his flesh that you fear you’ll draw blood. He doesn’t seem to care though, so you hold on tighter. He alternates between sucking your clit and swirling his tongue around it. All the while his skilful long fingers press in and out of you, stretching you and preparing you for what was to come. 

One of your hands moves into his hair. You tangle your fingers in the soft brown strands as moans of pleasure fall from your lips. Copia looks up at you and keeps eye contact as you watch the tip of his tongue tease your clit. You swear that you have never seen such a beautiful sight before in your life. Cardinal Copia winks at you, breaking the spell and goes back to trailing his tongue frantically all over your clit. 

“Copia,” you moan his name in warning. You feel like you are about to snap any moment now. 

He hums in acknowledgement, an action which sends vibrations directly onto your clit. 

“Close,” you say, unable to get anything more out between your moans. 

He hums in reply again. Copia curls his fingers inside of you each time he thrusts them into you. Pressing his long digits against your g-spot and finally sending you crashing over the edge. Your moans turn into one long gasp of his name as your legs shake uncontrollably. Copia holds you close, the only thing stopping you from collapsing onto the floor. His talented tongue swirls faster around your clit as your ride through the orgasm only stopping when you finally finish trembling. 

He leaves a loving kiss on your clit before he pulls his mouth away. His arms wrap around behind your legs, holding you close to his body. Copia peppers the softest kisses all over your thighs, completely innocent, but it still sends tingles through your body. Everything he does makes it harder to think of this as a one time thing. 

You offer him your hand and he stands in front of you. The lower half of his face is slick with your cum, but he doesn’t seem bothered by it. He wipes the palm of his hand across his face and then licks it clean. He moans as he trials his tongue between his fingers. Copia never takes his eyes off you as he does it. It makes your body even hungrier than before, if it were possible. You just want to throw him down on the bed and live out all of your dirtiest dreams about him. 

You take his other hand and lead him to his bed. You lay down on it, settling your head on his plush pillow. Everything is so comfortable that you’ll have to fight with yourself to leave after everything has finished. You spread your legs for him and beckon him to come closer with a crook of your finger. 

He crawls onto the bed, kneeling between your parted thighs. Copia smiles weakly at you, suddenly nervous. You sit up and loop your arms around the back of his neck, slowly pulling him closer. You lean back, pulling him along with you until his body presses completely against yours. 

Copia’s cock presses heavily against your stomach, leaving a small puddle of precum on your skin. You reach between your bodies and wrap your hand around his length. You give his cock a few soft pumps, spreading his precum over his length. Your hand can’t quite wrap the whole way around his girth and you know it will hurt when he first enters you, no matter how gentle and careful he will be. “I think you may just break me my dear Copia,” you say. 

His face pales and he looks slightly distressed, “I don’t want to hurt you Princess.” 

You cup his face with both hands and press your lips softly to his. “You’re supposed to be flattered, not worried.”

“I have lube in the top drawer if you think it will help?” you can hear the beginnings of panic in his voice. His cock presses heavily against you stomach. It looks so hard that it must be painful. 

You kiss him again, “I definitely don’t need any lube darling. You’ve already got me more than wet enough. Please stop worrying.”

He gives you a strange look that you can’t decipher the meaning of. 

“Please fuck me Copia,” you whisper against his lips. You pump one hand up and down his cock, “I need this and I can feel just how much you need this as well.” 

Copia’s hips lurch forward as he fucks himself into your hand. There is no way that he could deny just how much he wants to bury himself inside of you. You can see the tension in his body and how much strain he is putting himself under.

“Pease Copia, please,” you say, each word punctuated with a kiss. You let go of his cock and loop your arms around his, pulling him closer. You rub his back in a way that you hope is reassuring and finally you some of the tension leave his body. 

“Tell me if it is too much and I will stop,” the Cardinal says as he holds himself above you. His hand replaces yours on his cock, the tip brushing against your entrance. It was teasing the both of you to hold back, but he is still afraid of hurting you. 

You smile up at Copia and press a kiss to his cheek. “Take it slow at first,” you whisper to him. 

He nods and slowly slides his cock into you. You can feel yourself stretching with every inch that you take. The stretch burns and you screw your eyes shut. 

He stills his movements, “should I stop?”

“No, keep going,” you say. “I’ll tell you to stop if I need to.”

He nods at you and kisses your cheek. Slowly he pushes the rest of the way in, until he’s completely inside of you. You gasp and dig your fingernails into his back. His forehead is wrinkled with worry. 

“Are you alright Princess?” 

You smile up at him, “I’m fine Copia. You’re just bigger than I’m used to.” You move your hips a little underneath him, testing things out. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles. 

“You have nothing to be sorry for. It hurts now, but give me a few minutes and I’ll be moaning in pleasure. Kiss me a little?” 

He complies and his lips descend onto yours. The kisses are soft and innocent. His forehead rests against yours, mismatched eyes gazing into yours like he is searching for something. Whatever he was looking for, he found. Slowly he starts to pull out of you before moving back in. Copia keeps a hand on your hip to keep you in place. He continues with his torturously slow pace until you’ve adjusted to him and the first moan of pleasure escapes your lips.

He moves his lips from yours and starts kissing your neck instead. You begin to move your hips in time with his, both of you gradually picking up the pace until he is slamming himself into you. Every time he pushes in, it feels like he reaches deeper into you, knocking the air out of your lungs. You move your legs up to wrap around his waist, pulling him closer. It changes the angle of his thrusts ever so slightly. With each roll of his hips he hits the spot inside of you that makes you moan out in ecstasy. 

“Oh Copia, right there.” You can feel the delicious pressure building up inside of you. 

He takes your words of encouragement as a sign to speed things up. He thrusts into you roughly and you enjoy every moment of it. One of his hands trails down between your bodies, stopping when he reaches your clit. The silken leather covering his fingers circles around your clit, slowly at first, gathering speed. 

“Fuck” you pant, “I’m so close Copia.” 

“Cum for me Princess,” he whispers against your neck. “I want to feel you come undone around me.” 

It only takes a few more thrusts from him to send you over the edge. You feel your walls clenching around his cock and your legs tremble around his waist. Incoherent moans fall from you in a constant stream. You ride out your high as his fingers continue to swirl around your clit. So many sensations run through your body, you can’t do anything other than lazily buck your hips up to meet his and cling tightly to him. You moan his name softly, then you pull his lips back to yours, kissing him roughly. 

“I knew you would look beautiful when you came Princess.” His own pace begins to falter, signalling how close he is to spilling inside of you. 

“It’s your turn now, cum for me Copia, cum for me darling.”

“Oh Princess,” he moans softly, repeating it louder the closer that he gets to cumming. One more rough thrust and he spills inside of you. You can feel his hot cum covering your walls, filling you up entirely. It feels better than anything you had fantasised about all throughout the week. His own legs tremble as he gives a few more thrusts, riding the high of his own orgasm. 

Eventually everything comes to a stop. Copia’s arms give out and his weight falls on top of you. He mumbles an apology and tries to roll off, but you keep him locked in place. You trail your fingers through his hair, absentmindedly playing with the strands as he comes down and tries to catch his breath. He buries his face in the crook of your neck, peppering the flesh with kisses. 

“Was it worth the wait for you Princess?” his voice is small and it wavers as he asks.

“My dear Cardinal Copia, that was more than worth every moment I waited.” 

Slowly he pulls his cock out of you and you instantly feel the loss. You feel his cum spill out of you and slip down your thighs onto his silken sheets. Copia rolls onto his side, but keeps his arms tightly around your waist. 

“It didn’t hurt too much?” he punctuates his words with soft kisses on your neck. He hits a particular spot and you can’t stop yourself from moaning. You feel him smile against your skin as he focuses his attention on the same spot. 

Your hand finds its way back into his hair, “not gonna lie Copia, I’ve never been filled so completely in my life. It hurt a little, but like I said, it was worth every moment.”

He pulls away from your neck, across his face is the smuggest look you have ever seen. You guess that his sin of choice is pride. Though it could hardly be considered a sin to be proud of such a magnificent cock. 

A small part of you had hoped that he would have been bad in bed so that you could finally get him out of your system. After the first time, you had been eager for more, but now you are completely ensnared by him. There was no hope for you. You would keep coming back to him for as long as he wants you to. 

“Do you want to go again?” He asks as his eyes wander along your body, stopping when they meet yours. Unconsciously he licks his lips. 

“Ready when you are,” you say as you wrap your arms around his back and pull him on top of you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! This chapter is out a day early because tomorrow I'll be flying to Canada to join the Ultimate Tour Named Death. I'll be meeting Cardinal Copia at the Calgary show, then I'll see Ghost again in the USA for the Syracuse and Glens Falls shows. I'll also be visiting other places and doing tourist stuff.   
> This means I'll be away from my pc until November 9th...   
> I'll definitely still be writing during this time, but my posting schedule will be changing dramatically. I'll try to post a couple of times during my trip, but I don't want to make any promises that I might not be able to keep. This isn't the end by far! Just a little semi-hiatus.


	14. Chapter 14

You walk into Cardinal Copia’s office on the Monday morning after your rather eventful Saturday night with the determination to act as though nothing had happened. As far as the Cardinal knew, absolutely nothing had happened between the two of you, and that was how it needed to stay. A small part of you feels guilty that you know Cardinal Copia so intimately, yet he has no idea you shared his bed just a few nights ago. You do your best to quickly stamp that feeling down to the back of your mind. Everything had been 100% consensual. You would never tell anyone about it or gossip. It was your secret to keep. There was nothing that you need to worry about. It was over. 

Cardinal Copia is sitting at his desk as always, sipping his coffee and going through the various papers on his desk. He is wearing his stunning red cassock rather than the black one and it makes your heart drop into your stomach. He looks handsome, but he also looks stressed, a deep frown settling across his forehead.

“Good morning Cardinal,” you call out, snapping him out of his thoughts. 

“Ah! Gabriel, good morning.”

“Are you alright there Cardinal? You look a little stressed.”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” he takes a sip of his coffee.

You raise your eyebrow at him skeptically, “are you sure?”

He looks guiltily up at you, “It’s nothing too serious, my mind is just making a mountain out of a molehill.”

You walk over to his desk and take a seat on the chair that sat opposite him. You look at him expectantly and he lets out a sigh. He knows that you won’t let it go. 

“I’ve been assigned to chaperone movie night for the children tonight. I’m no good at that sort of thing. Teenagers scared me when I was one, nothing has changed since then.”

“I can help you,” you suggest. “All we have to do is put a movie on and make sure that no one gets pregnant, or murdered while it plays. Whatever they do after that is the problem of someone else.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that Gabriel,” he waves his hand dismissively. “It won’t finish until long after your work day has already finished.” 

“Well then, it is a good thing that you aren’t asking me. I’m volunteering,” you say giving him a smirk. 

He looks at you a little shocked, but then a smile breaks out over his face. “Using my own words against me?”

You smile back at him, “only when it suits my agenda. What movie did they pick?”

The Cardinal sighs, “the Hunchback of Notre Dame. It was originally a book, one of the only classics that I never managed to finish.”

“Don’t worry, I think the movie will be more exciting than the book, they usually are,” you say smiling at him. “Plus it’s a Disney movie, so there will be songs.”

“You like Disney movies?” he asks with a raised eyebrow. 

You blush a little, “they are one of my guilty pleasures. I was never allowed to watch them when I was a child, my parents thought they were another tool of the Devil. So when I finally broke free, Disney movies were just another in a long list of things that I wanted to experience. Don’t tell anyone though, I’ll lose my tough image if people find out.”

“You have a tough image?” the Cardinal asks with a smirk.

“Sure I do! I’m certain that most of the novices are frightened of me.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Most definitely,” you sigh. “I may have lost my temper at a group of them once. They were blocking the way and I really needed to go to the bathroom.”

Cardinal Copia nods at you knowingly, “that sounds like something you would do.”

“Hey!” you protest, “I’m usually very kind and patient.”

“I’m sure you are,” he replies nodding again.

“If you want me to help you tonight, you better be nice to me Cardinal.” It was only a fake threat, but the look on his face was priceless.

“Please don’t leave me with those unpredictable hellions,” he says quickly. “You’re such a kind and gracious person Gabriel. So very patient and not at all quick-tempered. Have I ever told you that before?” He does his best to look sincere, but you can see the corners of his mouth turning upwards as he holds back his laughter. 

You burst into laughter and he follows quickly after. You quickly decide that it’s a very pleasant sound. A pleasant sound that you wouldn’t mind hearing every day for the rest of your life. As quickly as that thought had appeared, you squash it back down again, now was not the time to be having a crisis about your plan. 

“That’s better, now if only everyone treated me so nicely,” you sigh dramatically. 

_____________________________________________________________________

You and Cardinal Copia make you way from his office over to the school that shares the grounds of the church. You wave to a few familiar faces, but don't bother to stop and talk as you lead the Cardinal to the dining hall. 

While the school was still growing and expanding, the dining hall was the largest space where assemblies and things like movie nights could be held. The creation of the school had been the idea of Papa Emeritus I and had been growing steadily ever since he had officially opened its doors in 2011. The school now had just over 200 attendees including Jessica and a few other children who had sought sanctuary with the church. However, most of the children had come from ordinary backgrounds with parents who shared the beliefs of the church. It had been interesting to see the school grow over the years. You explained all of this to your Cardinal as you made your way through the long corridors of the building. 

You were both a little early so that you could figure out how everything worked and make sure that everything was perfect for when the horde of teenagers would arrive. A computer had been linked up to the projector and the movie was paused and ready to go. You guessed that one of the teachers had set everything up for you, but there was no one around to take credit for the hard work. 

All you and Cardinal Copia had to do was move the bench chairs around so that they all faced the projector screen. Together you pushed the heavy wooden tables to the back of the dining hall so that they were out of the way. Then you lifted the slightly less heavy benches and arranged them appropriately. By the end of it all, Cardinal Copia’s face had a light red tinge to it. It took longer than expected, but without your help, the Cardinal would have been flustered and more nervous than he already was. You are glad that you had volunteered to help him. Seeing him breathing somewhat heavily and red-faced makes you think about the last time you saw him in such a way. With his thick cock buried deep inside of you and his lips pressed softly against your own. You shake your head to chase away the memory, hoping that your Cardinal doesn’t notice the blush covering your face. 

Exhausted, Cardinal Copia drops down onto the lone bench furthest back from the screen. You had both already decided that you would have your own bench rather than share with students. 

The Cardinal’s eyes trail all around the dining hall, “this is nice isn’t it? To see how the church has grown. I remember when this place was neglected and in ruins.”

“This place was nothing but ruins hundreds of years ago,” you look over at him. “I know you like to joke about your age Cardinal, but that’s pushing it a bit far, isn't it?”

Cardinal Copia laughs, it sounds nervous. “Yes, you’re right. I misspoke, it has been a very long day.” He stretches his arms above his head and you can hear the joints in his shoulders crack. “That feels better.”

Slowly a familiar figure comes walking into the room. Well, it was more of a waddle than a walk, but referring to it as such was a little rude. Jessica couldn’t help that carrying two babies made walking normally a little difficult for her. She is carrying something in her hands and she has a determined look on her face. She looks around the room before her eyes land on you and Cardinal Copia sitting on the bench. You smile and wave at her and she makes her way over as quickly as she possibly can. 

“Hello Sister! Hello Cardinal!” she calls out. She kneels on the bench in front of you, turned so that she was facing you both. “Are you both supervising tonight?”

“Hello Jessica,” you reply, “yeah, we’re in charge tonight. So you better be good!” 

Cardinal Copia just nods in response. He looks exhausted. Hopefully he can get some sleep during the movie, you wouldn’t mind at all if he took a nap on your shoulder. He could use all the rest he can get.

“I’m always good Sister!” she replies in fake outrage. “I’m glad that you two are here, that way I don’t have to go traipsing all the way through the church to find you.”

“Is something wrong?” Cardinal Copia asks, suddenly completely alert. He straightens himself up in the seat.

Jessica waves a hand in front of her face, “no, no, nothing is wrong. I just have something that I want to give to you. I made a present for you,” Jessica says holding out the hastily wrapped present to Cardinal Copia. “Well, not for you exactly, because you said you didn’t want anything even though you helped me. It’s for Francis, but you can open it for him.”

The Cardinal looked shocked for a moment, just long enough for you to catch it, but he quickly takes the present. “T-Thank you,” he is nervous again, like he isn’t used to receiving presents. 

“Shall we open it now?” you ask.

Jessica smiles happily at you, “I think we should. If you don’t think it will fit, I want to make another one. It would be very rude to give him a present that doesn't fit.”

You raise an eyebrow at Jessica, but she just keeps on smiling at you. She seems very proud of herself and that alone is enough to make you happy in return. 

Carefully the Cardinal unwraps the package and pulls out the present. Jessica had made Francis a little woollen jumper. It is sleeveless and almost the same colour as Cardinal Copia’s cassock. There is also a white grucifix carefully knitted onto the back of the jumper. 

“Do you like it?” Jessica asks tentatively. She watches Cardinal Copia’s face for any hint of disapproval. 

“It’s beautiful,” the Cardinal replies, his voice is tinged with the sound of awe. “You did such a good job!”

Jessica pumps her fist in the air in happiness, “yes! Do you think that it will fit him?”

Gently you take the jumper from Cardinal Copia’s hands and stretch it out. “I think that it should fit him alright.”

“And even if it doesn’t he can just go on a diet so that it will fit him,” the Cardinal adds. 

“So mean!” the young girl scolds. “But I am glad that you like it. I can’t go to all of my classes everyday because it makes me too tired. So, one of the Sisters in the hospital wing has been teaching me how to knit. I don’t have the patience to make something big enough for a person, but I did my best to make this for Francis. Do you think he will like it?”

“I’ve never tried to put clothes on him before,” the Cardinal says thinking out loud. “But he does like being the center of attention and he does like presents, so he should be very happy.”

“We’ll put it on him tomorrow and take some pictures for you. Maybe we could visit you while you have your downtime in the hospital wing?”

Jessica’s face brightens up even more, and she claps her hands together excitedly. “That would be great! The Sisters in the ward are nice, but they’re all quite old and to be honest, not that great at conversation. I think they taught me how to knit so that I would be quiet and sit still. Will you come too Cardinal?”

“Of course,” he nods. Even though you knew that he would have paperwork piled higher than his head, he still wants to make the young girl happy. It made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside to see how gentle and kind he is with her. 

_____________________________________________________________________

With surprising ease all of the students are quickly and quietly settled in and ready for the movie to begin. Perhaps they were worried about making fools of themselves in front of Cardinal Copia. Being around him all the time made it easy to forget just how high ranking and important to the church he is. If only they realised that he was just as nervous to be around them as the were to be around him, things would have gone very differently. 

You notice that Jessica is talking happily with a couple of girls sitting next to her. They appear to be her friends, but sometimes with teenagers things weren’t always how they appear on the outside. You would have to remember to ask her about them later, just to make sure everything was alright. Not that you felt protective over her or anything like that, you were just concerned for her wellbeing. Yeah, that was definitely the reason. 

You stand beside Cardinal Copia at the front of the room as he introduces himself briefly. The students listen obediently, but they don’t really seem to care about a single word he says. That is one of the great things about teenagers, they don’t understand the politics associated with the church, so they aren’t looking for signs of weakness yet. That will come later. 

Briefly you introduce yourself as well. The students that have been at the school for longer recognise you and wave politely. They are being oddly quiet and polite, but you didn’t care as long as they didn’t try to pull any shit while you were supervising them. Whatever they did after they left this room wasn’t your problem. 

You press play and as the movie starts, you and Cardinal Copia dart back to your bench to get out of the way. He stumbles over a power cord in the darkness and bumps into you. You catch his weight before he falls over. You can’t help but be reminded of the last time his weight was pressed against you. Even though he had been sweating a little earlier, he still smells wonderful. Intoxicating. 

“Thank you,” he mumbles into your ear as he rights himself.

You’re thankful that the room is so dark. If he saw you blushing as brightly as you are now, he would surely suspect something was up. 

________________________________________________________________

The two of you sit closely together, his arm is draped lazily over the bench behind you. If you had more self confidence, you would rest your head on his chest. But you can’t do that. Not here, with a room full of students. Although, with each passing minute it was becoming harder to ignore the rational part of your brain. Why was rational and sensible always so boring? 

You watch the movie in silence, wishing that you had at least brought something to eat. You should have brought popcorn along and shared it with your Cardinal. Briefly the image of your fingertips brushing together as you both reach for more popcorn jumps into your mind. Like a cheesy teenage movie. But that wasn’t realistic, the Cardinal never took his gloves off. 

As the movie progresses, you notice that Cardinal Copia seems to be watching it with far more interest than you had expected. Out of the corner of your eye you can see his features darkened in anger. You can hear his gloves creaking behind your head and you know that he is clenching his fist tightly. The Cardinal either really doesn’t like Disney’s adaptation of the book, or something else is upsetting him. It was most certainly the latter, but he did enjoy literature, so you couldn’t through out the first option completely. 

“Is something wrong?” you whisper to him. “You can leave if you want, I’m alright with watching them for the rest of the movie.” 

His eyes meet yours for a fraction of a second before he looks back to the movie, “everything is fine.”

“If you’re sure Cardinal,” you say. You want to press him further, but now isn't the time. There are too many other people around, all of whom are children.

He looks back at you, deep into your eyes, “I’ll tell you later.”

_________________________________________________________________

As the students exit the dining hall, the Cardinal remains seated. His jaw is still set in anger, but there is something else underlying the emotion. He has a far off look in his eyes, like he is remembering something from a long time ago. 

You close the heavy doors behind the students and sit back down next to him. He barely registers your presence, too caught up in his own thoughts.

“Cardinal?” you call out gently to him.

His eyes snap back into focus and he runs his gloved hand over his face. He looks so utterly exhausted. “Frollo reminds me of my father,” Cardinal Copia admits. “Even the way he speaks and holds himself is the same. It’s uncannily similar to be honest. He too appeared to be a pious man of God. He was a pillar of the community and well respected by everyone, even myself. But that was before I knew that he was my father.” 

You sat back down next to your Cardinal, so close that you’re touching. You want him to keep talking, but you don’t want to push him. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to Cardinal,” you place your hand on top of his. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

The Cardinal shakes his head slowly, “No, no Gabriel you are not prying. Sometimes it is good to get things off your chest. I was abandoned on the steps of a church as a baby and I grew up in the church orphanage. The head priest seemed to take a liking to me and trained me to be a Catholic priest like him. I believed so vehemently in him and I wanted to be just like him. I preached with conviction and spoke of the love of God to anyone who would listen,” Cardinal Copia looks ashamed of himself as he speaks. Nervously, his leg bounces up and down, but he continues speaking. “But then I discovered the truth about the priest, and my birth. My conception was a crime perpetrated against a vulnerable young girl by the priest. Much like Frollo, he blamed the poor girl for his inability to control himself. I never got a chance to know my mother, but I know a few things about her. I know that she too blamed herself for the actions of the priest. It was how she was raised. She couldn’t live with the guilt that she was forced to bear…” the Cardinal trails off. “When I discovered the truth years later my faith in God and humanity was broken, as was my spirit. I thought that I had everything figured out, I was always so certain of the answers I had been given. So, I turned away from the Catholic church and eventually found myself here.” 

You do your best not to look shocked, but you can’t help it. “I’m so sorry Cardinal,” you don’t know what else to say. You squeeze his hand lightly in yours and he squeezes back. You want desperately to pull him into your arms and never let him go. 

“I suppose that is why I feel the urge to protect Jessica,” he explains. “Although we don’t know her circumstances, the fact that she is young and vulnerable is no different. She needs to know that she is safe here for as long as she wants to stay.”

“We will keep her safe,” you reassure him.

“I don’t want her to end up like my mother,” his voice shakes as he speaks. You can tell that he is barely holding back tears. “No one deserves a fate like that.”

This time you can’t stop yourself, you wrap your arms around Cardinal Copia and hold him tightly. He relaxes into your arms almost immediately. “We won’t let that happen,” you say. Reluctantly you pull away from each other, you clasp your hands tightly over his and look straight into his eyes. “She knows that she can come to one of us whenever she needs to. And if we can’t help, we won’t stop until we find someone who can.”

“She is lucky to have you Gabriel,” he says, “as am I.”

A bright red blush covers your face, “we are lucky to have each other,” you say correcting him. “I wouldn’t have been in any position to help her stay if you hadn’t taken me as your assistant.”

“We make a great team don’t we?” he says with a weak smile on his face.

“The best,” you wink at him. 

Together you pack up all of the equipment and lock the expensive technology away where it belonged. Neither of you can be bothered to move all of the tables and chairs back to their original places. You’re both too tired. It didn’t take much to convince the Cardinal to make it someone else’s problem.

Like the proper gentleman that he is, he walks you back to the main dorm wings. You do your best to make small talk with him, but he is still distant after revealing the circumstances of his birth to you.

“Cardinal, I hope what I’m about to say isn’t stepping over any lines,” you begin. “But I think your mother would have been proud of you, had she lived to see the man you’ve become.”

He looks shocked and a little upset. The tears that he had managed to hold back earlier were back brimming in the corners of his mismatched eyes. “Do you really think so?

“Without a shadow of a doubt,” you say sincerely. “People often have trouble believing in their own good points, but I know for a fact that you are a great person. And I’m proud to stand by your side come whatever may.”

A weak but nonetheless genuine smile breaks out over his face. “Thank you Gabriel, you always know what to say to cheer me up.” He barely manages to stifle a yawn as he speaks. “We should head off to bed now, it’s late.”

“Of course Cardinal,” you give him a little bow. “Goodnight!”

“Goodnight,” he returns the bow. 

As you watch him walk down the corridor, one thing solidifies itself in your mind. You want to have him again, no, it was more like a need. You need to have him again. It was more than just a sexual desire now. You want to make him happy in any way that you can. Let him find comfort in your naked embrace or take out his frustration on your skin. You want to take everything he has to give. You want everything with him more than you’ve ever wanted it with anyone else before. 

Despite all of this, you know that the next time you visit his private chambers, you will be wearing your mask. You’re too scared to face him as yourself. It never ends well when you’re yourself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> So in this chapter we get to learn more about Cardinal Copia’s past.  
> If fan theories are correct and he is Imperator’s son, then I guess my story will be canon-divergent. 
> 
> I got to meet the Cardinal and he is such a sweetheart! I was so nervous beforehand, shaking and all that other fun stuff, but he is so kind I shouldn’t have been nervous at all. The ritual was amazing as well! They are all such great showmen/women.


	15. Chapter 15

It was never supposed to be like this. 

It was only supposed to be a one time thing. Just to get the Cardinal out of your mind. Nothing more. 

But here you are, standing beside his bedroom doors for the fifth weekend in a row. The flickering lights that run along the corridor are your only company as you wait for him. You feel like an eager child waiting for a Christmas present, excitement and anticipation bubbling away in your stomach. He should have been here almost half an hour ago. How long should you wait? Eventually waiting by his door like this was going to make you look pathetic. But you didn’t want to leave without at least seeing him first. Even if he was too preoccupied to fuck, you at least wanted to check on him. Even if every part of you thought it was a bad idea to wait for him, you couldn’t make your feet move an inch. 

Cardinal Copia had never again asked you to take off your disguise, seemingly content to be getting off without any strings attached. But, the way that he always calls you Princess hints at a level of affection not commonly found in a situation like yours. 

Working with him every Monday after your nights together had been filled with awkwardness on your part. Making eye contact with him had been a little difficult. Your mind kept flashing back to all of the wonderful things he could do with his tongue. None of which were appropriate to be thinking about when you were trying to fill out mountains of paperwork. Eventually, it has become easier to separate your role as his assistant from the role you play every time you enter his bedroom. In both situations he was always a gentleman. 

This week Papa Nihil had piled double the amount of paperwork on you and Cardinal Copia. The Cardinal never complained, but there was an angry look on his face when Nihil trudged out of the room, dragging his oxygen tank along behind him. That must be why he is late. Old Nihil is never completely happy with anything the Cardinal does. He always managed to find some kind of fault in his work, no matter how minor. It makes you furious to see the complete disregard that Nihil has for your Cardinal. Unfortunately, there is nothing that you can do about it. Especially if you want to keep your job and your home. Cardinal Copia deserves so much better. 

You check your watch, now he is 45 minutes late. Maybe you should just go? What would he think of you if he found you here? It makes your stomach fill up with nervous butterflies as you wait. 

Footsteps come down the hall. Slow, tired sounding footsteps. Eventually, Cardinal Copia turns the corner, head down and shoulders squared. 

You don’t say a thing until he looks up and sees you. Waiting like an obedient dog for its master. Would you see disgust on his face? Or relief? 

“Princess?” His voice is a whisper. 

You nod at him, giving him the biggest smile you have. You are happy to see him, even if nothing happens tonight. You hold your arms out to him and he slips easily into them. His weight on you is heavy, but it feels amazing to have him in your arms again. 

“I’m so sorry,” he mumbles into your neck. “Papa Nihil, things weren’t… he wasn’t… and it took so long to fix things. Always have to fix things.” 

“Come on darling, let's get you inside first,” you kiss his cheek. 

He passes you his key, and you take hold of his hand, leading him into his room. You steer him to his bed, which he drops down on to exhaustedly. 

You remove his biretta and rake your fingers through his soft hair. He leans heavily into your touch and a small whine slips from his mouth. 

“Are you alright my dear Copia?”

“It’s fine,” he mumbles. “Too much paperwork, not enough sleep.”

“We can skip this week if you want?”

“No!” his eyes widen in desperation. 

“But you’re tired, you should sleep instead.”

He shakes his head sadly, “I can’t sleep because my mind keeps going back to everything that still needs to be done.”

You cup his cheeks and lovingly stroke the obvious bags under his eyes. “Okay then, if you are sure.”

“This is all I’ve wanted all week,” he turns his head and kisses the palm of your hand. 

“You’ve been thinking about me all week?” 

“You and paperwork,” he admits. 

You lean closer and brush your lips against his, “how do you want me darling?”

“I want you on your knees, from behind. If you’ll let me?”

You pretend to think seriously for a moment, chewing on your bottom lip. “Do you need it rough, my sweet darling? Need to take some of your frustrations out on me?”

“Fuck yes Princess, I do,” he moans. 

“Do you need this pussy?”

“I need all of you,” this time his words are only a whisper. 

It is words like that that make this all feel like more than just fucking. But he would never need all of you. If he ever finds out who you are, it’ll all be over. You swallow your dark thoughts, you could worry about that later. You smile at him, “then come take everything you need.”

With renewed energy he stands up and in a flash his hands move up your back, pulling the zipper of your dress down. It slips effortlessly to the floor. His eyes linger on your skin before resting on the black lingerie that you have chosen for the night. Sometimes it feels like a waste when all you ever do is take it all off as quickly as possible. But you love the way his eyes are drawn to the lacy little pieces of material. The way he licks his lips as he unhooks your bra always makes you a little weak at the knees.

You take his moment of pause to begin ridding him of his own clothes, leaving him standing before you in just his underwear. You grope his hardening length through his underwear and his hips jolt forward into your hand. 

“Someone’s eager,” you tease. You wrap your free arm around the back of his neck and pull him closer so that you can whisper in his ear. “Don’t worry about foreplay darling, I’ve been wet for you all day.”

The Cardinal shudders at your words.You reach into his underwear and pull his cock out. Slowly you stroke him up and down. He leans forwards into your grip. Abruptly you break away from him and look him dead in the eyes. 

“You can be rough me with if you want to. Push me around, slap my ass, stuff like that,” you suggest. He probably wouldn’t be interested, but he needed to know it was alright with you if he did. 

He looks shocked, “I don’t ever want to hurt you Princess.”

You can almost feel yourself melting on the inside at his words. “It’s alright if I give you permission. I actually like it,” you admit with a shrug. 

His hands twitch nervously at his side, he isn’t moving. To anyone else, he would look normal, but you know he’s panicking. 

You cup his face and refocus his attention, “you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to darling, it was just a suggestion. If you need to take your frustrations out on me it’s fine.”

He nods at you, his eyes staring straight into yours. “Thank you,” his words are so quiet you almost don’t hear them. “You treat me too well Princess.”

You shake your head and kiss him softly on the lips, “not at all my darling Cardinal. You deserve this and so much more.”

Cardinal Copia just gives you a weak smile in reply and rests his forehead against yours. He seems so completely and utterly shattered, like there was nothing left inside of him to give. Maybe you should just let him sleep instead? But you don’t want to leave, you never want to leave. 

You press your lips against his again, “you work so hard Cardinal, you deserve to have every last Sibling of Sin on their knees for you. You deserve their admiration and their gratitude. Tonight however, you’ll just have to settle for me.”

The Cardinal kisses you back, the fatigue from earlier gone from his actions. “I would rather have you on your knees for a thousand nights than fuck the rest of the clergy.” He slides his hands down your back, smooth leather gloves caressing your skin. He stops at your hips and squeezes them gently. A soft moan escapes you, breaking the kiss. “You know how I like it, and you take my cock so well my sweet little Princess.” 

“I do aim to please, Cardinal,” you feel a sense of pride welling up inside of you knowing that he would choose you over everyone else. You would choose him as well. Cardinal Copia made you cum every single time he was between your legs, usually more than once. The things he could do with his fingers and his tongue were so perfect that it left you at a loss for words. 

“You do it so well,” his lips attach themselves to your neck. One hand slips down between your legs, he dips two fingers inside of you, coating them with your slickness. “You weren’t lying about being wet for me,” he mumbles against your neck. “Fuck, Princess, you are so perfect.” He slides a finger over either side of your clit, effectively trapping the sensitive bud between them. He squeezes his fingers together ever so gently and you feel a jolt of pleasure dart through you. He repeats the squeeze and release motion a couple more times before pulling his fingers away and sucking them into his mouth. 

You watch, transfixed, as he swirls his tongue around his fingers. 

“Delectamenti,” he whispers. 

“Latin?”

Copia nods, “sometimes it is easier for me.” 

“Then speak however you want darling,” you kiss him hard on the lips. You can taste yourself on his mouth. “Whatever you need, however you need it.” 

He nods again, his hands back on your hips. “Mea Principesa, placere circum vertere.” 

You do as he asks, turning around so that you are facing the bed. 

His hands squeeze your hips. Then they travel slowly up your sides to cup your breasts. He takes their weight into his hands and kneads them. You lean back onto his chest and rest your head on his shoulder. His cock presses hard against your ass. One hand lets go of your breast and takes hold of his cock instead. He moves his cock between your legs, thrusting slowly and revelling in the friction. You spread your legs wider and now his cock grazes along your entrance, the head brushing against your clit from behind. The hand on your breast pinches your nipple and you cry out in ecstasy. 

Fuck, he is prefect. 

“Perfectus,” he grunts. 

You giggle, he stole your thoughts. “Yes darling, you are. But you know that if we keep going like this, then it’ll all be over before it starts.”

You feel him nod, but still he slides his cock between your legs. You don’t want him to stop, not really. But you need to feel his cock buried deep inside. You’ve been craving more of him since the moment you left him last time. 

“Darling.”

He whines and pulls away from you. Slowly. 

You climb onto the bed, on your knees. You wiggle your ass in a way that you hope is seductive. The Cardinal lets out a moan. Success. 

He runs a finger down the length of your spine. You shudder and arch up into his touch. There is no way that he doesn’t see the scars that cover your back, but he doesn’t say anything about them. You’re almost convinced that he’ll ignore them completely until you feel his soft lips press kisses all over your back. 

“Vos autem perfectum.”

You feel tears welling up in your eyes. Quickly you blink them away. You want him to fuck you, he won’t do that if he thinks your upset. You’d dwell on this particular moment of softness some other time. You can’t think about it now. 

“Paratus?”

His question snaps you out of your daze. “Yes, I’m more than ready for you.” 

“Bonum,” he kisses your shoulder. 

With one hand on your hip and the other on his cock, slowly he slides his length into you. He buries himself all the way to the hilt and you both let out a satisfied sigh. No one has ever felt as good inside of you as he does. Slowly he pulls back all the way out with a wet pop. He slides himself in and out, repeating the same slow movements. But his tight grip on your hips hints that he needs more. You told him that he could take you however he wanted to, but he seems loathe to actually do it. This time when he pushes into you, you push your hips backwards to meet him, forcing the pace to change. He falters for a moment. 

“Ea incipit,” he whispers so lowly that it’s almost a growl. The Cardinal squeezes your hips in what can only be warning. 

Roughly, he slams his cock back inside of you. His tight grip on your hips forces you to stay in place as he sets a vigorous pace. It’s fast and it’s rough and in a matter of moments, you’re both panting. All you can hear is the slapping together of wet skin and his breathing next to your ear. 

He keeps up his relentless pace and eventually your arms cave in under you. Instead of trying to force yourself up again, you arch your back and bury your face in your arms. 

Copia growls behind you and adjusts the angle of his hips. Every thrust pushes you forward slightly. But you push back with equal force. You’re both desperate. The headboard bangs against the wall in time with his thrusts. You almost feel sorry for the person on the other side. Almost. 

His hands slip off your hips and make their way to your ass. His fingers grab and claw at you, slipping over your skin until he has a firm hold on your ass. He squeezes and kneads the flesh as he pounds himself into you. You wish that he would remove his gloves. You would love to feel him digging his fingernails into your flesh. Maybe leave some small crescent shaped cuts. But you would just have to settle for the soft texture of his leather gloves and the way they creak with the force of his grip. 

You feel his hands spreading your ass cheeks apart, his eyes focusing on the meeting of your bodies. You feel so vulnerable under his gaze, but not in a bad way. The Cardinal’s moans and grunts of pleasure put you at ease. 

Copia leans over you, his chest presses tightly to your back. You’re both slick with sweat. His thrusts are shallow, instead of moving in and out, he circles his hips. Your fists clench tightly onto the sheets. The Cardinal is hitting all of the right places. He pushes your cape and hair to the side and exposes your neck. You cry out in surprise, worried that he’ll find out the truth, but he silences you with a soft kiss. His moustache scratches against your neck. Then his hot, wet tongue licks up and down. He’s preparing you for something, but you don’t know what. 

He pulls back, the gentleness of before is gone. His hands are on your hips again, pushing and pulling you onto his length. It’s rough and hard, and you can hear the Cardinal panting and moaning behind you. He has to be close now. You can hear it in his frantic breathing. He is desperate. 

He stops himself. Completely still inside you, “fuck,” he whines. 

Has he finished already? 

No, you would feel it.

He leans back over you again and lavishes your neck with attention. You let out a moan when he hits your soft spot. His teeth graze the same place and you feel a shudder of pleasure run through you.

One of his hands trails down to your clit. He circles a finger around the sensitive bud. The pace is slow, but it’s enough to help you to the edge. He begins to circle his hips, his cock moving deliciously slowly inside of you. 

You can feel the tension radiating from him. He is so close to cumming, but he wants you to come undone first. You don’t mind if he finishes first, he hardly seems the type to leave you hanging, roll over and fall asleep. But he seems very determined to send you over the edge first. 

The finger circling your clit speeds up, as does the movement of his hips. You’re so close now, you can feel the coil about to snap. 

“Obsecro festinant,” Copia moans. 

“Just a little more darling, I’m so close,” you answer. 

He grunts in reply. His slick fingers roll around your clit. Copia slams his hips roughly into you, once, and that’s all it takes. You feel your orgasm crash through your body. 

His name slips from your lips in a moaning chant. Your thighs shake and your fingers fist into the bedsheets. Copia lets out a moan as you clench around his cock. He won’t be far behind. 

You stay still as he jackhammers into you, too tired and arms to wobbly to keep up with him. With one last thrust you feel his grip on you tighten, almost painfully as he finally comes undone. You feel him shudder against your back, shaking as his orgasm rips through him.

His lips against your neck part and he sinks his teeth into your flesh. He bites down hard, and you cry out. It hurts, but there is a mix of pleasure that accompanies it. Your Cardinal was finally taking what he wants. 

Agonisingly slowly, he pulls out of you. You feel his seed leak out of you, trailing down the inside of your thigh. 

Carefully your turn over onto your back and stretch out. You run your fingers over the indents his teeth have left in your skin. It stings and you’re certain that he has drawn blood. When you pull your hand away, the fingertips are smeared with blood. He prefers leaving love bites to handprints when he’s feeling upset. It was a good thing to know. You just had to remember to find a way to cover the mark before you saw him again on Monday. 

You can feel his eyes roaming all over your body. He takes in everything as if trying to commit it to memory. His eyes stop when they reach your thighs. They widen as he sees his seed across them. His fingers twitch at his sides and he bites his plump bottom lip. You don’t know what he wants, but whatever it is, you’ll give it to him. 

You smile at him and that is all it takes. Copia surges forward. He swipes his finger along your thigh, collecting his seed. He studies it for a moment before he holds the finger out to you. So that is what he wants. 

You sit up on your knees and take his hand. You swirl your tongue over his finger, then you begin to suck on it. Moving your head up and down ever so slightly. 

Copia groans, “dirty Princess.”

You grin at him wickedly, “don’t even try to pretend that you don’t like it.” You grab a handful of his hair and pull him to you. You smash your lips roughly against his. Copia whimpers against your lips, but quickly he parts his own. You expected him to put up a bit of a fight, but he lets you take control of the kiss. Every ounce of his earlier dominance has disappeared as he all but melts into your grip. The soft leather of his gloves caresses you, almost reverent in its gentleness. 

Copia pulls away and you let go of his hair. His mismatched eyes stare right into yours. They’re watery, like he is holding back tears. You probably shouldn’t have pulled his hair so hard. Poor Cardinal. 

You begin to surge forward to capture his lips again. Ready to begin round two of the night. 

But Copia opens his mouth and shatters the perfect little bubble toy had been living in.  
“Princess, I can’t keep doing this,” Cardinal Copia says with a sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry I didn’t update this sooner. I’ve been moving around a lot on buses in the past couple of weeks and writing while sitting next to strangers just didn’t want to happen.  
> The tour has come to an end, and it was amazing! I managed to make it to the barrier for the Glens Falls show, and the view was beautiful!


	16. Chapter 16

“Princess, I can’t keep doing this,” Cardinal Copia says with a sigh. 

You look up at him, saying nothing. You knew that eventually something like this would happen. Whenever something good happened to you, something else always came along to rip the carpet out from under your feet. 

He looks away, saying what he needed to say was too difficult with you looking straight at him. “I cherish every night that you come to me, in fact, I have come to yearn for it.” He pauses, his eyes darting up to meet yours for a split second before looking away again. “The tenderness you have shown me, n-never have I experienced it before. But…”

“But?”

“But outside of these walls, there is…” speaking had never been this hard before. 

You felt your heart drop into your stomach, “someone else,” you say finishing his sentence for him. 

“Yes,” he admits simply. 

Of course he had found someone else. A man with as much power as him would be highly sought after. You feel an unpleasant mix of anger and bitter sadness brewing in your chest. You just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. “Is she a good fuck?” you snarl. How many people were going to throw you away before you finally broke for good. 

Copia looks at you, startled. “I-it isn’t like that,” he began.

“What? Do you need a little longer to compare notes? Do you want me to fuck you so hard that you forget about her? Do you want me to fight for you?”

“No! I haven’t slept with her, Satanas, she, she,” Copia struggles to find his words. “You bring me to salvation every night you spend with me. You are endlessly patient and intuitive, so much so that sometimes it’s like you know what I need before I do,” he stopped. His fingers wring nervously together. “Lucifer only knows why you keep coming back to me. There are hundreds of brothers and sisters that could serve you better.” 

You smile softly at him, he seems to know exactly what to say to make you melt. “Copia, no one even comes close to you.” You run your hand over his cheek and he turns into your touch and kisses your palm. 

“Flattery?”

“I’m not the type to give false praise, or to fake an orgasm. You should know that by now,” you say. Copia continues to kiss your palm softly, his moustache tickles you in an almost teasing manner. You want him to keep going, you want him to forget about whatever he else he needed to say and just keep kissing you. But you know that he needs to finish what he was saying. Lucifer knows you don’t want to hear about the other woman, the one who had stolen his heart, but you have to. Like ripping a bandage off, it had to be done eventually. “Copia, you need to finish,” you say choking back tears that were threatening to fall. 

He can hear the waver in your voice as you pull your hand away from him. The last thing he ever wanted was to hurt you, but he hoped that by doing this now, he could spare you both more pain later. The longer you both stayed in this fantasy, the more it would hurt when it ended. 

“What is she like?” you coax. 

“She is,” he began, “she is hard to describe. She is like a fallen angel, beautiful, gentle, compassionate. She can chase away even the darkest of my moods before they have a chance to settle. When I am around her, well, I have never laughed so much in my life. She does not cower from me like the others do, nor does she denounce me to others when my back is turned.” Copia paused and ran his fingers over his face.

“So she is sunshine and everything good in the world and I am a good fuck?” you say dryly. You move to get off the bed, but Copia’s fingers wrap around your wrist and he pulls you back down. 

“Satanas no, you are more than that,” he says. “I am just bad with words.”

“You had no trouble describing her!” you exclaim. “Your beautiful fallen angel.” It stings to hear just how much he adores her. “Let me go Cardinal.” 

Copia lets go of your wrist and you dart off the bed. Your eyes search wildly for your clothes, you just want to get out of here and never come back. You can’t stop the sob that escapes your throat as you fight back your tears. You wrap your arms around yourself, trying to physically hold more tears back. Your fingernails pinch into your skin and you focus on the pain to help you calm down. 

Copia moved to sit on the edge of the bed, he ran his fingers through his hair nervously. “I don’t want to hurt you Princess, but I don’t want to let you go either. That is why I have to do this.”

“You make no sense.” 

Copia looked up at you, he patted the space on the bed next to him. “I know,” he said with a sigh, “please be patient for just a little longer. Things like this, they are unfamiliar to me. I know what I need to say, but the words, they are difficult.” His hands are shaking and you can tell that he is terrified to say more. 

You sit down next to him. Whenever he gets like this you feel the need to comfort him and normally you would, but you can’t bring yourself to console him when you’re falling apart right next to him. Silence descends for a few agonising minutes while Copia sorts through his thoughts. You move closer so that your knees are touching and you pick up his hand. You thread your fingers through his, but you refuse to meet his gaze. 

“The first night, you sought me out, you came to me with the proposition of sex. You knew who I was from the very beginning. You chose me,” he says. He turns his gaze to the floor. 

“Yes,” you admit. “I couldn’t get you out of my mind, so I decided to do something about it.”

“That is the point my Princess, you know me enough to pick me, but I don’t know you. Every night that you come to me, we undress, we share an orgasm or two, sometimes more, maybe cuddle for a little while and then when the bell chimes, you run away like you are Cinderella.” Copia pauses, trying to make eye contact with you, but still your head is hung in sadness. “I know nothing about you apart from your sexual appetite and your gentle heart. Princess, I want to know more, to know who you are beneath the mask. I want more of you, and maybe you want more of me too?” Copia gives your hand a light squeeze. 

“Of course I want more of you,” you say, “but when you know who I am, you’ll turn me away. You won’t like what you see,” you say with a sigh.

“How can you be so sure?” he asked. “I know that I am unpopular with, well everyone. I know that I am awkward and too nervous when I shouldn’t be. I am the creepy rat man who scares all of the beautiful young sisters away. You know all of this, yet you come back to me.” 

You give Copia a sharp look, “you shouldn’t speak of yourself like that. The ones that are scared away aren’t worthy to even look upon you.” 

Copia smiles at you, he brings your hand up to his lips, placing a kiss on your knuckles. His moustache tickles against your skin. “I know the words that are spoken about me Princess. I have ears,” he pauses. “But that is not my point. You know who I am, yet you do not run from me, so why would I run from you?”

“You deserve better than me,” you blurt out. 

“I doubt that,” he says tenderly. 

“You’ll see,” you reply so quietly he almost doesn’t catch it. 

“Well, now I have learnt that you are stubborn,” Copia says, trying to make you laugh. 

It doesn’t work completely, but you give him a genuine smile, “you don’t know the half of it.” 

“So will you take your mask off for me?” he asks softly. 

“Just give me one last,” you pause, feeling sick to your stomach. Despite his words of reassurance, you know that as soon as he discovers your identity, he will throw you out of his bed, and then he will have another sister replace you as his assistant. The girl he mentioned will probably take your place. You can’t help but wonder who she is, maybe she is someone that you call a friend. The sister who will replace you is sure to be beautiful, someone that your Cardinal deserves to have by his side. She will be someone who isn’t so afraid that they have to hide themselves behind a mask. She won’t have scars. You hang your head in defeat. You know that you are about to lose everything, so you might as well get one last taste of him before everything comes crashing down around you. “Just one last time with you. Then I will take the mask off. Then you can see everything.”

Copia leans forward and places a soft kiss to your lips, “you do not know that it will be the last time,” he tries to reassure you. “This could be the beginning.”

You sigh, he is always kind and gentle. This was a part of him that you thought that you were the only one to see, but apparently not. Your hands shake at your sides, betraying you. You clench them together tightly. “In my experience, that isn’t how things go.”   
The Cardinal opened his mouth to argue with you, but you place a finger to his lips. You don’t want to hear any more, the only thing that you want to hear is the wet slapping of skin against skin and his soft moans of pleasure. “Can I ride you my dear Cardinal Copia?”

Copia nods at you vigorously. How quickly you seem to change moods confuses him, but he would let you have anything you wanted from him. 

“Sit back against the headboard,” you instruct. Copia shuffles backwards and does as you ask. He props some pillows up behind him for comfort and then turns his attention to you expectantly. You follow him, straddling his thighs, his half erect cock between the two of you.   
You lean forward and press your lips to his, starting softly, but growing more urgent each second. He responds in kind, his tongue swipes across your bottom lip. You reach down between your bodies and take hold of his cock. He lets out a whimpering gasp and you take the opportunity to push your tongue into his mouth. You pump your hand slowly up and down his shaft in time with the sliding of your tongue against his. His hips twitch and buck beneath you. Copia breaks away from your kiss and mutters something that you don’t manage to catch. With a few more skilful pumps, he is completely hard, his tip leaking precum. You raise up on your knees and hold yourself over his tip, teasingly close. You take hold of his hands and guide them to your hips. He holds you tightly, his gives pressing into your skin. His eyes are focused on where your bodies are about to meet, entranced by the anticipation. Part of you wants to tease him more, but you don’t have the patience left.   
Slowly, inch by agonising inch you sink down onto his length. His eyes screw shut tightly as he fights the urge to buck his hips up into you. He doesn’t want to hurt you, but he needs more. 

“Copia,” you whine his name as you finally take all of him in. The sound is a mix of pleasure and pain. The way that he fills and stretches you at this angle has you struggling for breath. 

“Alright Princess?” he asks. 

You nod slowly, “so big,” you mumble. “Just give me a moment to adjust.”

Copia’s face turns red, “s-sorry,” he stammers, embarrassed. He leans forward and captures one of your nipples in his mouth. He sucks gently on it, trying to take your mind off the pain. One of your hands slides into his hair, keeping his mouth on your breast, the other moves to grip onto his shoulder. You rotate your hips, getting used to the feeling of his length inside of you. He sucks in a breath, hands tightening around your waist. He pulls away from your breast and gazes up at you. 

Slowly you lift yourself up, so that only the tip remains inside of you, then you sink back down. You repeat this motion, so slowly that sweat begins to gather on both your faces with the effort of holding back. Copia holds your hips so tightly that you know you will have bruises tomorrow.   
Copia groans underneath you, a sound so desperate that something inside you snaps and you slam down on his length. Your pace quickens as you fuck yourself on his cock. Copia stays still, his eyes watching as your breasts bounce up and down with your movements. 

“You can now move darling,” you say between gasps. You weren’t at all ready to let him go. 

Copia doesn’t need to be told twice. He slams his hips up to meet yours, the first time you let out a gasping moan of pleasured surprise. He continues to meet your every movement with just as much urgency. He shifts slightly under you and this time when your hips meet, his cock hits the spot inside of you that forces a loud moan from your throat. 

“Oh Copia,” you moan, “right there.”

Copia nods and thrusts up into you again and again. You can feel your orgasm begin to build, getting closer and closer each time his hips meet yours. One of his hands lets go of your hip and makes it way to where your bodies meet. His fingers circle your clit in tight fast circles. Your orgasm hits you faster than you expected, rolling through your body. Copia’s name slips repeatedly from your lips in a soft, almost reverent chant. You cling tightly to his shoulders as you ride out your orgasm, unable to hold yourself up straight. As Copia feels you clench around him, his pace falters momentarily. He can feel himself getting closer to the edge. Copia takes full control, both hands tightly on your hips guiding your body on his cock as he chases his own orgasm. Roughly, he slams into you, moving faster than before. You regain some of your strength and move to match his pace. 

“Close,” he mumbles. 

You feel another orgasm building rapidly, “just a little more, please Copia,” a desperate moan slips from your lips. 

His eyes dart up to yours,”again?”

You nod at him, unable to find the words. He smirks proudly at you, redoubling his efforts. You reach one hand down to your clit, but he bats your fingers away. He rubs and flicks your clit until another orgasm slams through you. Seconds later you feel Copia spill inside of you with a satisfied sounding deep moan. Slowly you continue to move together, riding out and prolonging your highs until you come to an exhausted stop. 

After a few moments of catching your breath, you reluctantly climb off Copia, his softening cock slipping from you. You eye your clothes on the floor and then the door. You slip off the bed, keeping your back to Copia you pull your mask off and toss it on the bed. You’ll never need it again. Behind you, you hear Copia move closer, sitting on the edge of his bed. Next you unclasp your cloak, your hands shaking with nerves. You drop it to the floor, feeling more naked than you have ever been before. You wrap your arms around yourself, feeling a panic rising inside of you. Taking one last deep breath, you turn around and face him. 

“Gabriel?” His eyes widen and his mouth drops in complete shock. It would have been funny at any other time. Instead it sent a splinter of pain right through your chest. 

There is only silence, and the longer it continues, the more you begin to shake. You can’t stand it anymore. You break eye contact with him, and an almost inaudible sob escapes from your throat. You knew this would happen, he doesn’t want you, he never wanted you. You feel sick again, you’ll never be able to show your face around him again. You snatch up your dress from the floor, turning to run for the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I meant to upload sooner, but things got in the way. I'm currently job hunting (soul crushing), and I've been a little distracted from writing, but hopefully I'll be able to get back onto my regular schedule soon.


	17. Chapter 17

Your fingers clasp around the door handle, pulling it towards you. But before you can slip out, Copia’s hand reaches above you and slams it shut.   
You stand still, pressed against the door, shivering with both the cold and fear. You need to get out. 

“Gabriel, turn around,” Copia whispers behind you. You can’t tell what emotion is in his voice. 

You have no choice but to do what he asks. You turn around and press yourself against the door, as far away from him as possible, your eyes cast to the floor. Copia cups your chin, forcing you to look him straight in his mismatched eyes. You felt like you were drowning in them, unable to do anything except look at him. You can feel your heartbeat pounding in your chest. 

“Why are you so scared Gabriel?”

“I’ve ruined everything,” you manage to say. 

“How?”

“I’m not the right person. I’m never the right person. Now everything is ruined,” you say quickly. 

“Right person? What right person?” 

“The other girl, the fallen angel.” The tears that you had been holding back finally burst out of you, rolling silently down your checks. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” repeatedly slips from you. You’re stuck in a loop, you don’t know what to do. Still pressed against the door, leaving is impossible. Why can’t Copia just let you go? 

Without warning Copia leans down and presses his lips against yours. The kiss is so soft that it’s barely even there. He moves in to kiss you again, but you don’t know how to respond. You’re so confused. 

“Gabriel, cara mia, you are exactly the right person,” he whispers. 

“I-I can’t be. I am none of the things you say she is.”

A look of shock crosses Copia’s face, “darling, you are all that and more,” he says. “My heart was torn between you, my companion during the night, and Gabriel, my right hand during the day. But you are one and the same.”

The look of disbelief on your face must have been obvious to Copia. 

“I am not the type to give false praise, or to fake an orgasm,” he said wiggling his eyebrows at you jokingly. 

That’s all it takes, you push yourself off the door and into Copia, wrapping your arms around his waist and placing your head on his chest. Your earlier tears turn into laughter. You still don’t quite believe that his description of you is true, but that doesn’t matter for now, all that matters is that he believes it. Cardinal Copia wants you just as much as you want him and you are determined to hold onto that for as long as you can. 

“Umm, are you crying or laughing?” Copia asks uneasily. He doesn’t know what to do with his hands, and he can feel his own anxiety rising. His body becoming tense. Seeing you so upset left him at a loss of what to do. It made him feel utterly useless. 

You lift your head up, “laughing,” you say.

Copia relaxes and returns your embrace. His grip is firm, holding you tightly. You feel his heartbeat speed up, and his body tenses in your grip.   
“I-I have something important to ask you,” he finally says. 

“Okay,” you reply, waiting. 

“I-I want to have all of you, day and night,” he said looking everywhere except at you. “That is, if you will have me?”

“Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” you ask teasingly. You cup the side of his face and force his eyes down to meet yours. 

He nods, not trusting his voice. 

You lean up on the tips of your toes and capture his lips with yours. You kiss him slowly at first until he relaxes fully and you slip your tongue into his mouth. Your tongues slide together slowly and you begin to press your body tighter against his. 

Reluctantly, Copia breaks away from the kiss, “yes?” 

“Yes!” you answer happily. “Can I sleep in here with you tonight?” The words spill from you before you have a chance to stop them. He stays silent, blinking slowly as he looks down at you. Now it is your turn to be nervous. You didn’t think that he would have a problem with it, but he did seem to enjoy his alone time. You didn’t want to force yourself on him, but you desperately wanted to stay in his arms. Part of you was terrified that this was all some kind of dream, or that he would suddenly change his mind. 

“You can stay here whenever you want Gabriel,” he said finally. 

You let out the breath you didn't realise that you had been holding in. 

“I don’t have a spare key now, but I will get one,” he says, “shouldn’t take too long. I can make some space in the closet as well, we don’t want your clothes to wrinkle. I have a spare toothbrush too, if you want to use it?”

He was about to say more when you stopped him by pressing your lips to his. It was a soft, chaste kiss, but it stopped him dead in his tracks, stunned. “Thank you. Let’s worry about everything else in the morning, right now, all I want to do is slide into bed with you.”

Copia nods and silently follows as you lead him back over to his bed. You pull back the sheets and beckon for him to get in. 

Slowly, his movements stiffen, he gets into bed and shuffles over to make room for you. You slip in next to him, your arms touching and nothing more. You lean over and switch off the light, leaving you both encased in darkness. For the first time in a long time, the silence between you both feels awkward. 

“N-no one has ever stayed the night before,” he admits, “ever. I don’t know what to do.” You can hear the slight panic in his voice, fear that he’ll do something wrong. 

“You don’t have to do anything,” you say trying to calm him down. You reach out to take a hold of his hand, and find that he is still wearing his gloves. “Apart from taking those off.”

“My hands are always cold, people don’t like it, they say it feels like a corpse is touching them.”

“It can’t be comfortable for you to sleep with them on?”

“N-no.”

“I don’t care how cold your hands are Copia, I want you to be comfortable.” You tug at his glove. 

He lets out a sigh and you can’t tell if it is from relief or frustration. You can feel him rustling are next to you, pulling the leather off. When his hand comes back to its resting place you snatch it up. It’s just as cold as he described, but it doesn’t feel unpleasant to you, just extremely cold. It amazed you in all the wrong ways that he could be so self conscious about so many things about himself. The people, the lovers in his past hadn’t treated him right, but that was going to stop now. You would see to it that your Cardinal was given everything he had been missing. Suddenly something very important occurred to you. 

“Copia?”

“Mhhm?” 

“What is your first name? Unless you want me to keep moaning the name Copia every time you make me cum?” you ask as you prop yourself up on one elbow. 

It’s too dark to see, but you know that he is blushing. He opens his mouth to speak, but he can’t seem to find his words.

“What’s wrong?” you ask playfully. You draw little circles on his chest with your index finger. Your hand is itching to travel lower, but he seems to be having enough difficulty without adding extra stimulation into the mix. 

He places his hand over yours, keeping them both still, “Dante,” he says so quietly that you almost don’t hear him. 

“Dante,” you repeat, rolling the name around in your head. It was an uncommon name, an old name, yet it seemed to fit him perfectly. 

You can feel his eyes on you in the darkness. 

“I like it,” you say. “Can I call you that?”

He’s quiet for a long moment, considering his words carefully, “when it is just us,” he says. “What shall I call you?”

“You can call me Gabriel whenever you want, but I did enjoy being called ‘princess’.” You can’t help the yawn that escapes you as you speak.

He hummed in reply, “you are tired. You should sleep.” 

You wriggle closer to him, until the length of your body is pressed into his side. Unthinkingly, you rest your head on his chest and throw your arm around his waist. His hands may be as cold as ice, but the rest of him was warm. His body is rigid, hands at his sides just like the first time you kissed him. You can hear his heart beating rapidly in his chest. 

“Are you alright?” 

“I’m not used to it,” he states simply, gesturing to your closeness. 

“Do you want me to move?”

“N-no!” he replies quickly. “No, I like it. I just…”

“It’s okay Dante,” you love the sound of his name. “These things take time. Try to relax, and if you can’t, just shove me off. I won’t be upset with you.” 

You feel him moving around next to you. The arm closest to you slips under your body and pulls you gently so that more of you is pressed on top of him. His hand then curls around up around your back to rest on your waist. He lets out another sigh, but this time it is more obviously of contentment than anything else. The rigidity of his body decreases, but he still isn’t 100 percent at ease, but then again, you doubt that he ever is fully calm. 

In the darkness you tilt your head up and kiss his cheek. “Goodnight Dante,” it gave you a stinging sense of nostalgia to say those words to someone again. Someone you cared deeply about. You just hoped that Dante was a better person than your previous partner because you didn’t think you could deal with another heartbreak like that ever again. However, it also felt magnificent to know Cardinal Copia’s name and to whisper it to him as you fell asleep in his arms. 

“Goodnight Gabriel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay - but it's finally here! I hope that you all enjoy it after the way I left you hanging last time!   
> During my job hunt I haven't been in the right frame of mind to write, but I start my new job on Monday and things have fallen into place for me again.


	18. Chapter 18

It is a strange feeling to wake up in a bed that definitely isn’t your own. There is an arm wrapped loosely around your waist and your head is resting on something solid that definitely isn’t a pillow. You feel a panic begin to rise in your chest before you remember exactly where you are. You are in Cardinal Copia’s bed, last night hadn’t been a dream. The arm that was holding you close was his arm. Your eyes catch sight of the alarm clock next to his bed. It reads just a little after 9am, which on a Sunday is far too early to even consider getting up. You smile to yourself and nuzzle your face into his chest. His chest hair lightly scratches your skin. This is something that you could easily see yourself getting used to. 

You shift slightly, adjusting your weight. Your thigh accidentally brushes against his crotch and you hear him mumble something sleepily. But when you look up, you notice that he is still sleeping. All of last night's activities probably wore him out. You feel exhausted as well, both emotionally and physically. You had never expected things to turn out the way that they did. You had feared the worst, but the best possible outcome had slapped you in the face instead. It feels too good to be true. 

“G-Gabriel,” he whispers groggily. His eyes blink open slowly and meet yours. 

“Yes?”

“You’re still here,” his words are soft, like he can’t believe his eyes. 

“Of course I’m still here,” you press your lips to his chest, just above his heart. “You asked me to be yours, so you’re stuck with me now babe.” 

He doesn’t say anything, but the smile on his face says more than words could convey. He squeezes his arms around you tightly. You trail your finger across his chest, absentmindedly drawing patterns across it. His sparse chest hair scratches in the softest way possible. The Cardinal, or rather Dante, is unlike anyone you’ve been with before. You thought that he would have been mad at you for keeping your identity a secret, but he hasn’t even asked you why. It doesn’t seem important to him in the least and you wouldn’t bring it up until he did. He didn’t need to know how scared and uncertain you were about everything. Sure, your mind isn’t completely at ease, but just laying here in his arms made most of your nagging, intrusive doubts stay away. 

You feel him press a kiss to the top of your head and it shocks you out of your thoughts. 

“Are you alright my Princess? You seem awfully quiet.” 

“Oh I am much better than alright, I just snagged the cutest bachelor in the entire church,” you bounce your eyebrows at him suggestively.

He points to himself in what appears to be mock surprise.

“No, not you, Francis of course! Think of all the extra time I can spend with him now!”

Dante pouts at you, sticking his plump bottom lip out. “Now I see I was just a stepping stone to get closer to the rat. I should have seen it coming!” He turns his head to the side and makes fake sobbing sounds. 

“He is a very cuddly boy,” you say with a smile. “But you are a very close second my darling.”

“Second to a rat?” His white eye gazes at you, the other hidden by his pillow. 

“Not just any rat, it’s sweet, adorable little Francis!”

Dante sighs dramatically, “I suppose it could be worse. Just as long as you give me more kisses than you give him, it’ll be fine.”

You pretend to think seriously for a moment, “I think that I could do that.” 

“Oh how charitable of you,” he jabs a finger into your side. Right where you happen to be ticklish, it was a weak spot for a lot of people. 

A small squeak escapes your lips as he jabs you again. He raises a curious eyebrow, testing the same spot and getting the same reaction. A wicked grin erupts over his face and in seconds he has made you into a laughing mess, trapped in his arms. 

You bat at his chest, trying to escape and gasping for breath between laughs. Abruptly he stops, as if he knows it’s getting too much for you to handle. 

“Laughter,” he whispers. “You have such beautiful laughter.” 

You don’t have anything to say in reply, you don’t know what to say. Dante has an amazing ability to leave you speechless. Instead you pull his face down to yours and kiss him. 

You slide your tongue along his lower lip, teasing him until he opens his mouth for you. Morning breath be damned, you want a piece of your man. The kiss starts out slowly, but it quickly speeds up. His fingers have found their way into you hair for the first time. He holds the strands gently, not daring to be rough with you at a moment like this. You press your tongue against his, swirling and sliding together. You pull back to catch your breath for a moment before Dante’s lips are on yours again. This time he dominates the kiss. Just when you feel your lungs begin to burn for air, he finally lets you go. 

You can feel his heart racing underneath your fingertips. His chest rises and falls, almost in sync with your own. The both of you just lay there in silence, listening to each other breathing. Dante’s fingers play with the ends of you hair, curling the golden strands around his fingers. He has that look on his face. The one he gets when he is thinking about something, but he doesn’t know how to put it properly into words. You leave him to his thoughts, whatever he wants to say will come out when it’s ready and not a moment before. 

You almost fall back to sleep with your head on his chest when he finally speaks. 

“Sorry to be a Debbie-downer, but we should talk about how we are going to handle this,” Dante begins. 

“What do you mean?” Where had Debbie-downer come from? His vocabulary is such a jumble sometimes. 

“I’ll have to tell Sister Imperator about our relationship.”

You pull a face at him, “why?”

“Because if we don’t and she finds out later, and she always finds out later, she’ll make life unbearable for us. It’s easier to tell her now than beg for forgiveness later,” he pauses. “Trust me.”

“Had experience with this before have you?”

“Not me, but I’ve seen it happen with other Cardinals. Sister Imperator is ruthless.”

“I don’t want her knowing my personal business, she’s never been too fond of me to begin with.”

“Ultimately it is to protect you.”

“How so?”

“To make sure that I don’t abuse my power, as a Cardinal, over you. To make sure that I can’t hold your job as a hostage to keep you as my partner.” 

You shrug your shoulders, “I honestly never thought that you would do something like that anyway. I trust you.”

He smiles at you, “thank you Princess,” a faint blush colours his cheeks. “But that is all the more reason that we need to do this.”

“I suppose you’re right. But you’re the one who has to tell Imperator, not me.” 

Dante winches, “it is really something that we should do together, as a couple. Together,” he emphasises. 

“You don’t want to go alone do you?” you poke an accusatory finger in the middle of his chest.

“Not particularly, no,” he admits. Quickly he places his hand over yours and holds you in place. 

“Big baby.”

He nods vigorously, “so you will come with me?”

“Of course,” you give him a wicked smile, “but it’ll cost you.”

“Name your price.”

“I haven’t thought about that yet, but I’ll let you know when the bill is due.” A sudden thought dawns on you, “what about other people?”

“What about them?”

“Do we announce that we’re together, or do we keep it a secret?”

“You know the people here better than I do, what do you think?”

It didn’t take long for you to come to a conclusion, “I guess we’ll stay a secret. Many people here are fine, but there are a small number who find joy in the chaos of broken relationships. They would find something like this to be a fun new challenge.” 

Dante nods, “well that won’t be a challenge for me, but you my little social butterfly may have some trouble.” 

“Not anymore, when friends have a falling out, people take sides. I lost all my closest friends when Eliana ended our friendship.”

Dante looks down at you, lines of worry decorate his face, “I never even thought of that, I’m so sorry Princess.” 

“It’s fine,” you don’t want to talk about sad things now. Right now the only thing you want is to be wrapped up in his arms. 

“You should stop doing that,” his fingers have found their way into your hair and he strokes the cold digits through the stands. 

“What?”

“Saying that things are fine when they aren’t. You’re allowed to be sad cara mia. You don’t have to pretend around me.”

“I don’t want to waste anymore time being sad,” you explain. “This time yesterday I never would have imagined that things would have turned out so well between us. Now isn’t the time for being sad, now is the time for raunchy sex and lots of cuddling afterwards.”

His lips press to your forehead, “just promise me that when it is time for being sad, that you will let me be sad with you.”

You feel tears prickling in the corners of your eyes but you blink them away, “I promise.”

He smiles down at you, “now about this raunchy sex you mentioned?”

“Mhmm?”

“When can we have some?”

“Whenever and wherever you want babe,” you wink at him.

“How about right now?” you feel his hand leave your hair and trail down your side to rest on your waist. Goosebumps erupt over your skin wherever he touches you. How are his hands still so cold? He notices the shiver that runs through your body and snatches his hand away from you. “I should put my gloves on first,” he says reaching for them on the bedside table. 

You catch his hand, “no, I like your cold hands just the way they are.” You spread your legs suggestively, “I know the perfect place where you can put them to warm them up.”

Dante looks confused for a moment but your meaning eventually dawns on him. “I can definitely do that,” he says eagerly. 

He rolls you onto your back, keeping one of his legs between yours. Instantly your hands make their way into his hair tugging the soft strands to pull his lips down to yours. His kiss is eager, like it’s your first time together, and in a way, it is. You feel a cold hand slide down the side of your body, across your stomach and to the junction between your legs. Slowly he probes two fingers forward until you can almost feel them touching your sensitive bud. You push your hips forward, but his body on top of yours forces you to remain in place. He kisses away any attempts to beg for more. 

Without warning he slides two freezing digits inside of you and begins fucking you with them. He watches as your eyes widen at the unfamiliar sensation, but when your shock quickly turns to a look of lust, he’s satisfied. His other hand grabs your leg and hauls it up and over his hip, spreading you wider. He curls his fingers inside of you, hitting the spot that makes you moan uncontrollably. You grind your hips down onto his fingers, desperate for everything that he can give you. Dante takes the hint and begins to circle your clit with the pad of his thumb. 

Your moan comes out louder than expected, but you don’t care. To catch your breath, you have to break away from his kisses. You can feel the heat building in the lower half of your body, if he keeps up like this you will be finished soon. You want to cum with him, to feel his cock pounding inside of you, but all of that slips away with each brush against your clit. 

You can hold him tighter now that you aren’t afraid he’ll discover your truth. So you cling to him, your arms around him and your fingers digging little crescent shaped indents into his skin. He’s got you trembling on the edge already. 

He hears your breathing change, beginning to speed up. “Are you going to cum for me little Princess?”

You nod.

“I can’t hear you cara mia, I want to hear you,” he pauses, punctuating his silence with a soft kiss on the lips. His mismatched eyes search yours, “I want to hear you cry out my name.”

“Dante,” you whisper, lips barely brushing against his. 

“Perfetto cara mia, just like that.”

His fingers continue to curl against your spot, you’re so close it’s almost unbearable. He speeds up his pace on your clit and that’s all it takes to send you over the edge. 

“Dante,” you cry out. Your legs shake uncontrollably as you ride out your orgasm. He keeps up his movements, prolonging your orgasm and keeping you in ecstasy. You hold him so tightly that you’re sure that your fingernails will draw blood. His name falls from your lips like a chant. 

He’s watching your face intently, like he is memorising every detail of your orgasm. You don’t even care that he can see the scar over your eye. He doesn’t flinch at it or curl his lip in displeasure. The way he looks at you, it feels like you’re the most captivating thing he has ever seen. 

When you finally come down from your high his lips are on yours again. You cup his cheeks and pepper his face with kisses. 

He breaks away and pulls his fingers from your body. Instantly you feel a little empty, but you know that won’t last for long. 

Dante rolls into his side and you can see just how hard and eager he is. The head of his cock is almost purple and it bounces and strains seeking out a warm and wet place. He pumps his hand along his shaft, smearing it with your juices. It surprises you that such a plain action can be such a turn on in such a primal way. Like he is claiming himself for you. 

Dante’s eyes search yours for a hint of hesitation, but when he sees none, he slides slowly into you. He stretches you like no one else before, but it doesn’t hurt anymore. The way he moves against you only brings pleasure. 

His pace is slow and deep, making love to you rather than simply fucking. A hand finds its way back into your hair and he uses it to gently pull your mouth back to his. The kiss doesn’t last long, but he keeps you close anyway. So close that as you exhale he inhales, almost as if you are one being. 

You pull your legs up and wrap them around his waist, crossing your feet and keeping him as close as possible. The movement provides a change in angle and you gasp out as he first hits that magic spot inside of you. . 

Dante’s pace begins to speed up and desperate small moans spill from his lips. 

“Cum for me darling,” you whisper. 

He shakes his head and buries it in the crook of your neck. “Not first, never first.”

He’d already made you cum once, but apparently that isn’t good enough for him. You aren’t going to argue with him if he wants to make you cum again. 

With every thrust of his hips you can feel yourself getting closer, but it isn’t quite enough. His hand trails down from you hair and along the side of your body. His cold featherlight touch sends a shudder through your body. His hand pauses for a moment, teasing the already tight peak of your nipple. Dante pinches it and rolls the heavy flesh of your breast around in his hand. As he pinches the peak again you let out a strangled moan. It was a nice pleasurable feeling, but that wasn’t where you want his masterful fingers right now. 

Dante’s mismatched eyes gaze up at you, “forgive me little Princess. Your breasts are highly distracting.”

You can’t help but smile with pride. You would be sure to use this little piece of information to distract him later. 

His hand resumes sliding down your body until it reaches the place where you bodies meet. Dante plays with your clit, teasing it with the very tip of his finger. His own pace is beginning to falter now, the rhythm of his thrusts becoming sloppy as he struggles to hold himself back. 

“Per favore, vieni presto,” he whispers against your neck. 

You can’t find the words to reply, instead you just grip him tighter. He redoubles his efforts, trying to regain his rhythm. 

It works and in a matter of moments you feel the coil burning in the lower half of your body snap. Your orgasm crashes through you in intense waves. Your fingernails dig into his skin holding tightly and a series of soft, panting moans spill from you. Your shaking legs clench tightly around his waist keeping him right where you need him. 

Dante follows you over the edge barely a second later. He snaps his hips frantically to prolong your orgasms and whispers of your name fall from his lips. His lips and moustache moving against your neck tickles your skin.

Slowly Dante comes to a stop and your orgasm fades away. He goes to roll off of you, but your hold on his shoulders keeps him in place. 

You’re both covered in sweat and still breathing heavily, but you don’t want him anywhere else but in your arms. Everything else goes away when he is there. 

The thick black makeup under Dante’s eyes is running down his face. You’re sure that you don’t look much better, but none of that matters anymore. Your in his bed, tangled in his arms and legs and right now nothing could make things better. 

Well, maybe one thing could make it better. 

“We should get up, it’ll be lunchtime soon,” your fingers stroke softly through his hair. You don’t want to leave his arms, but your stomach feels particularly empty. 

Dante groans and buries his face back into your chest. 

“I’m hungry,” you whine.

He lifts his head up, “then order room service,” he says simply.

“Room service?”

“Higher ranking clergy members can call to the kitchen and have food brought up to them. It isn’t something I’ve ever done, but you’re hungry and I don’t feel like getting up.”

“Room service?” you blink in disbelief.

“Yes Princess.”

“I don’t think I have ever been jealous of your rank before, but I certainly am now. Is there a menu?”

Dante shrugs, “no idea. Just call and ask.” He lays his head back down on your chest. 

“If I call, then everyone will know that we’re together.” 

He slips his arms down your body and tightly around you waist. You squeal as he rolls the both of you over so that he is underneath you. Your breasts press heavily into his face, but every time you try to pull away and give him more space, he just tightens his hold on you. 

“Are you alright like that?”

He says something, but his words are muffled. 

“Darling, can you even breathe?”

He lets go of you slightly, giving himself enough room to talk, “breathing isn’t a priority,” he declares. “Pass me the phone and I’ll order us something to eat.” 

“Breathing most certainly is a priority, I only just got you,” you scold him playfully. “Besides, could you imagine me trying to explain that I killed you with my chest?” You pass him the phone. 

“Suffocation by your magnificent titties,” he says giving you a wicked grin. “Personally I couldn’t imagine a better way to go.” 

Before you can protest he dials the phone number for the kitchen, all the while keeping the same grin on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated! It's a Christmas miracle ~  
> Hope you all enjoy this cuteness before ... dun dun duuuuh


	19. Chapter 19

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to you that Dante was a stickler for rules. During business hours he is Cardinal Copia and you are just his assistant. His rigidity with rules is frustrating. Every moment you’re near him, you want to shower him with affection and kiss him any chance you get. But he won’t let you. You respect his rules and his need for order, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t annoyed by it. There was something about having him as yours that makes you want to wrap your arms around him and never let him go. The way he always leans into your touch doesn’t help either. 

The first couple of times that you had forgotten about his rules and tried to kiss him, you were shot down with a dejected but firm, “no kissing during business hours.” You had learnt your lesson after that. It forced you to find a new and more creative way to get what you want. At precisely 4:59pm you would stand up, make your way over to his desk and count down the seconds until 5pm rolled around. As soon as 5pm hits you cup his cheeks and press your lips to his. One single, chaste kiss, after business hours, just as was promised, and then you leave for dinner. 

You don’t wait for him to join you at dinner, he always stays later, finishing something. He never lets you stay with him in the office, even though you offer every night. He says that he doesn’t want you wasting your free time. Personally you think that he doesn't want you to stay because he knows that you’ll come up with a way to distract him. He wouldn’t be wrong if he thought that. You just can’t help yourself. 

In the week since you’ve been together, you started to notice that more of his rat friends would make an appearance. There were 3 in total and they were all big and brown. But none were as big as Francis. None of them were as brave as Francis either. They would pop their heads out of the same hole Francis always uses and they would stare at you, never venturing out further. It was a little unnerving to begin with. It looked like a rat monster with 3 heads was watching you, studying you. Every time you tried to point it out to Dante, they would disappear. 

This morning when you entered the office, the 3 were sitting on Dante’s desk, each eating a cube of cheese. You had taken no more than a step into the room when Francis comes scampering up your leg, making his way up to rest on your shoulder. 

“Good morning darling,” you say scratching the rat behind the ears. “Good morning Cardinal,” you give him a wink. 

He pulls a face at you in response, “I have some friends you should meet. But come to me very slowly, they are a little shy.”

You walk across the room, trying to be as slow and unthreatening as possible. It’s not that difficult to be honest, even with your heels on your not imposing in the least. Dante stands, holding out his hand to you. You take it and he pulls you back against his chest. 

The three rats stare at you. You feel Francis shift his weight on your shoulder and when you glance at him, you notice that he is staring at you too. 

You don’t want to speak, afraid you’ll scare the smaller rats away. Dante’s hands shift to your waist and as he sits down, he guides you to sit on his lap. 

“What about your rules?” you ask as quietly as possible. 

“This is more important, I want you all to be friends. These little ones are an unexpected, but very welcome surprise.” 

The rats continue to stare at you, sniffing the air but not daring to come closer. 

“Can you guess why they are important cara mia?” His moves his hands so that one stays wrapped around your waist and the other sits on his desk. Slowly he slides the chair closer to the desk. The rats jump a little, but they don’t run away. 

You study them for a moment, but try as you might, they just look like regular rats to you. You couldn’t say that to Dante though, it might upset him. “They’re new friends?” you question. 

“Oh yes, very new. But what makes them so special is that they are Francis’s sons.” 

Francis makes a happy sounding noise next to your ear. You pick him off your shoulder and bring him round to face you. “Really? They are yours?” 

Francis looks at the 3 and then back to you. You take that as a yes. You bring Francis up to your face and nuzzle your cheek against his. 

“You did a very good job Francis, they are cute! Who's the mamma?”

“You’ve met her, albeit briefly.” 

“Daisy?”

Four pairs of rat ears twitch when they hear the name. 

Dante nods, he leans forwards and rests his chin on your shoulder, “they don’t have her colouring, and right now they are only babies so they still have a lot of growing to do. But one day they should be the same size as their father.”

You lower Francis to the desk and he hops out of your hands. He circles around his sons, his long tail curling behind each of them. If you didn't know better you would think that Francis looks like a proud father. 

“Francis has been following Daisy around practically since the day he was born. He’s always been enamoured by her. Finally she gave in and they became mates. It has taken quite a while for babies to appear, but here they are,” Dante explains. A huge smile sits on his face. 

Dante softly brushes his lips against your neck. His moustache tickles you and you can’t help but melt at the feeling. You wish you could be annoyed by the hypocrisy of his actions, but you just want to bask in his attention. He could do anything to you right now and you wouldn’t put up a fight. 

“Can I pet them? Or should I wait until they are older?” You could practically feel your fingers itching to touch them and play with them, but you manage to restrain yourself. 

“Go slowly with them, just hold out your palm to them and let them come to you. They have their mothers mistrust of people.”

You do as he says, holding out your empty palm and waiting. The 3 sniff the air near your hand, but no one makes a move to come closer. 

Dante unwraps a cheese cube and places it in your palm. “Bribery,” he explains. 

“Unless Francis gets it first,” you’re only half joking when you say that. 

The baby sitting in the middle surges forward in a flash and takes the cheese, when his brothers reach to steal his cheese he pushes them away and runs to hide behind Dante’s hand resting on the table. 

“If that one doesn’t have a name he should be called Francis Jr.,” you say giggling. Sure you are a little sad that he didn’t stick around to get to know you, but his escape was too funny to stay sad. 

Dante turns his hand over and the brave baby climbs into it without a moment of hesitation. He catches you pouting, “don’t be sad Princess. They will warm up to you eventually.” 

He moves his hand next to yours and ever so slowly, the baby puts a paw onto your palm. You watch, hardly daring to breathe as he painstakingly slowly shuffles himself onto your hand. He sits in your palm, chewing away on his cheese cube happily. 

“It is okay to pet him now,” Dante whispers. Again his lips brush against your neck as he speaks. You can feel every word. 

You reach out slowly and stroke him and he doesn’t flinch away from your touch. His unease around you has completely disappeared, all thanks to a cheese cube. If only it were always that easy to make new friends. He curls his tail around your fingers, holding onto you. The cuteness is almost too much to handle. 

Dante laughs behind you as he sees the almost maniacally happy smile spread over your face. “You are happy yes?”

You nod, still afraid that you might scare the baby away somehow. Both of you watch in silence as the 2 other babies take tentative steps forward. You feel yourself holding your breath as the babies climb into your hand. 

“Don’t forget to breathe Princess,” he whispers. 

Slowly you let out your breath, the babies don’t even notice. They’re too busy trying to steal cheese from the baby you’ve decided to call Francis Junior. Francis sits back, watching the babies. Francis Junior breaks away from his brothers and runs up to your shoulder. He hides himself in your hair while he stuffs the rest of the cheese in his mouth. 

A small, but very distinctive knock slams into the office door. The babies jump in fright, clambering down the table leg and disappearing into the hole. Francis doesn’t jump, but he quickly follows after the babies. 

Dante lets out a grunt of frustration, “looks like our nice, calm morning is over.”

“You don’t have any scheduled meetings, so I don’t know who it is.”

“Probably someone who can’t do their own job so they’ve come to dump it on me,” he mumbles. 

You turn to look at him with a raised eyebrow. That wasn’t something that he would normally say. Normally he was too nice and accommodating. 

“I was enjoying our time together like this,” he shrugs. “The quiet office, playing with the babies,” his arm around your waist squeezes tighter for a moment, “you in my lap. This is my ideal start to a day, but now the fun is over.”

“We can have fun later you know, I’ll sit in your lap whenever you want.” You turn slightly so that you can see him better, “if you want, I’ll tell whoever is at the door to fuck off?”

He smiles at you, “I would love that, but you know we shouldn’t. We can’t. You are right, we’ll just save our fun for later.”

You pout at him, but you know he’s right. In a flash you cup his cheeks and press your lips roughly against his. At first he’s a little surprised, but once that wears off, he’s kissing you with equal ferocity. You feel his hand begin to slip up your leg, maybe the person at the door will just go away. Then you can finally have the office sex you’ve been fantasising about for so long. 

Another knock slams into the door, this time much louder. 

You pull away from each other, both equally as reluctant to do so. 

“Can you please answer the door before whoever is on the other side bursts in on us?”

“Only if you promise to kiss me again like that later.”

“Your wish is my command Princess.”

You slide off his lap, it feels cold without his arms around you. Smoothing down your dress you walk over to the door. Before the person on the other side can knock again, you throw the door open.

Jessica is standing on the other side. Her arms are wrapped tightly around her body, like she is trying to make herself as small as possible.When the door swings open she looks up at you and you can see that she has been crying, her eyes are rimmed red.

“Jessica sweetheart?”

Without saying a word she launches herself at you. You wrap your arms around her and you can feel her shaking. Instantly you feel the calm from before evaporate, replaced by anger. As soon as she tells you who upset her like this, you’ll be taking care of them personally. 

You feel Dante behind you, he touches the small of your back and points towards the couch. Carefully you guide Jessica over to the couch while Dante shuts the door behind you. You hear him lock the door before he sits on the couch opposite you and Jessica. 

Before either of you can ask her what is wrong, she blurts out exactly what is troubling her. 

“The father of my babies called me the other day, he wants to talk in person.”

“And what do you want?” Dante asks carefully. 

“I never want to see him again,” she replies firmly. 

“Then that is what will happen, did he ask where you were?” he asks. 

She nods, “he kept demanding, but I wouldn’t tell him. He got really mad and I hung up on him. I think I just made everything worse.”

“Jessica, sweetheart, we will keep you safe here,” you rub her back. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Francis pop his head out of the hole in the wall. He sniffs the air and looks around, but he doesn’t leave his hole just yet. He must have left the babies behind somewhere else. 

“I-I don’t think that you legally can…” she drifted off. “If he gets the police involved, I’ll have to go. I don’t want to cause problems for you guys.

You and Dante share a look, things just got a lot more complicated than either of you had been planning for. She needs to tell you the truth about her circumstances, but you don’t want to push her. The poor girl had been through so much already, you and Dante were her only safe place. You didn’t want to jeopardise that.

“Is there something you want to tell us?” Dante is cautious with his words. 

The small girl sighs, “I don’t really want to tell anyone, but if someone has to know, then I want it to be you two.”

“Sweetheart, we don’t want to force you.” 

“I know, but I guess it can’t be helped, can it? You have to promise that you won’t get mad at me,” she says quickly. “When I told mama the truth she was furious, she called me a liar and other things… that’s why I ran away.”

“We don’t judge here,” Dante says. You can tell that he is doing his best to stay calm, but he is worried about the young girl.

Francis emerges from his hole and clambers up Jesica’s leg. When he sees that she isn’t afraid of him any more, he curls up in a comfortable ball in her lap. The sweet rodent was trying to comfort her in his own way. 

“It started when I was little. Mama was always working, so I was home alone with my step-dad a lot. If i wanted to do something or have something to eat. I had to pay a fee. First it was a kiss on the cheek, or a hug, harmless little things like that. But when I got older, I wanted more expensive things, like to go on a school field trip. So I had to pay a higher fee,” Jessica stops talking and you can see that she is doing her best to hold back tears. She strokes Francis, takes a couple of deep breaths and then continues. “It changed from being a kiss on the cheek, to being a kiss with tongue. Then letting him feel me up, see me naked, touching me when I was naked and other stuff beyond that,” she gestures to her pregnant stomach. “I knew it wasn’t normal, I knew something was weird and wrong with him, but I didn’t have a choice. I just wanted to have the same things as my friends, so I did whatever he wanted me to. He was my first everything.”

“We won’t let him anywhere near you,” Dante’s hands were balled tightly into fists. There was a dangerous look in his eyes, he was furious. “He’ll have to go through an army of ghouls before he even gets to look at you.”

“But he’s my legal guardian.”

“Surely no judge would force you to go back home with your abuser,” you suggest. 

“He’ll just say I’m lying, it’s my word against his. Even Mama doesn’t believe me and she is supposed to be on my side. No one will believe me, I’m just a troubled teenager whose underage and pregnant.”

“We believe you,” Dante’s words are firm. 

“You’re not a judge,” Jessica sniffles. “If I wasn’t so selfish none of this would have happened. Now I’m trapped.”

“Absolutely none of this is your fault. Not one bit,” you say. Dante nods in agreement. 

“He is the adult in the situation, he should know better. For what he has done to you, there is no forgiveness.” Dante passes her a handkerchief from his pocket. 

Jessica dries her eyes, trying her best to dab around her makeup rather than smudge it. She’s mostly successful, like she has done this many times before. She probably has. “Thank you,” she mumbles. 

Dante is filled with rage, but he isn’t the only one who wants to track down her step-father and shove a molten piece of metal down his throat. He was a monster and now he wanted to pull Jessica back into his sick and twisted world. As for her mother, you didn’t even want to grace the woman with a thought, you just want to make her suffer as well. 

Dante walks over to his desk. He picks up his rolodex and begins flipping through it. “Neither of us have legal training, so we won’t be much help unfortunately. However, the church has its own lawyer and I think this is something that she would gladly take on.”

Jessica’s eyes widen in shock, “do you really think so?”

Dante nods as he pulls a card from the rolodex. “She is a strict, no nonsense kind of woman, so you will both have to behave,” he points an accusatory finger at you and Jessica. 

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” you gasp in fake outrage.

Jessica giggles and a smile tugs at her lips, “we are always on our best behaviour Cardinal.”

“I know I can trust you Jessica,” he pauses. “It’s the other one I’m worried about.”

“Hey!” he would definitely be paying for that comment later. But he was making Jessica smile and that was all that really mattered right now. 

“Will you go with me to see the lawyer?” Jessica was back to being serious again, but her expression didn’t seem so heavily weighed down. 

“We’ll be with you every step of the way,” you say. 

Jessica looks from you to the Cardinal, “really?”

Dante nods, “every step of the way.” 

Jessica springs forward and wraps her arms tightly around you. Francis lets out a small squeak in protest as he unwittingly gets squashed between you and Jessica. 

“Oh no!” Jessica exclaims, “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

“He’s fine,” Dante waves his hand in dismissal. “That was a warning sound, it would take a lot more than that to hurt him. Francis is a sturdy boy.” 

Francis looks up at the small girl and nuzzles his face into her hand, all is forgiven. 

“I’m still sorry though,” she mumbles. 

You reach out and stroke the rodent between the ears. He basks in the attention, his eyes boggling with joy. 

“I’ll make an appointment to meet with the lawyer later this week. The sooner we get onto this, the better. We’ll have to go into the city, but perhaps we can make a day of it? Dante suggests. 

Jessica’s eyes light up, “Can we go to Sweets Paradise? They make these really good crepes with loads of toppings. You’ll love it Sister, they have so many sweet things!”

You smile at her, “I think we can manage that, after all, you two do owe me.” You turn to the Cardinal, hoping that you haven’t stepped over some kind of line by answering instead of him. 

He waves his hand dismissively, “yes, yes that is fine. But you both have to eat something other than sweets as well. I won’t have the nurses yelling at me because you too have stomach aches.”

Francis climbs off of Jessica and onto you lap as she stands up. Her tears are all gone now, but the red around her eyes serves as a reminder of what you were just discussing. She seems to hesitate for a moment before she launches herself at your Cardinal. She pulls him into a tight hug. You watch as his eyes widen almost comically, he certainly wasn’t expecting such a display of affection from Jessica. He looks to you desperately in a moment of panic, he has no idea what to do. You gesture that he should hug her back, trying to reassure him that everything is fine without saying anything. He follows your lead and cautiously wraps one arm around Jessica.

“Thank you for everything Cardinal Copia,” she says it so softly that you almost don’t hear. But her words weren’t meant for you, they were meant for you shy, gentle Cardinal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this took me longer than expected to get out!   
> What did you think of this chapter? Please feed me with comments


	20. Chapter 20

You survey the spare space in his closet, there isn’t all that much room, but it’s better than nothing. At the very back there is a white suit. The jacket has a snakeskin look to it and the trousers appear to be made from a stretchy material. They look tight, his ass must look amazing in them. Why he has such a stark white suit is beyond you, he only ever wears black or his red cassock. The garment seems so out of place, but then again, Dante is always full of surprises. You run your fingers over the snakeskin material and a shudder runs through your body. It’s cold to the touch, but that doesn’t explain your shudder. It’s been a long day, you guess that you are just overtired and reacting weirdly. You shake your head and pull out a handful of empty coat hangers. 

You place a couple of your habits on hangers. They all look the same, but some are clearly more worn than others. You’ll need to order new ones soon. Maybe when you go into the city to meet the lawyer on Friday you can pick up some new clothes. You don’t think that Jessica would mind a minor detour, but you aren’t so sure about your Cardinal. He might not have the patience to wait while you try on clothes. 

The door unlocks and creaks open behind you. You hear the unmistakable sounds of Dante’s footsteps come into the room. He shuffles in carrying a large stack of books. They slam down heavily into the table.

“More books?” you question, there wasn’t any room for any more books. 

He smiles meekly at you, “there are always more books.”

“I think you need more shelves before you buy more books darling.”

He shrugs at you, “I’ll find a way to make them all fit.” 

“Well you are good at making big things fit into small places,” you wink at him. 

He goes bright red with blush and it makes you burst out laughing. He grabs himself through his cassock, “I don’t hear you complaining!”

“And I never will,” you beckons him with your finger. “Now come over here and give me a kiss.”

He complies, wrapping tight arms around your waist and kissing your forehead.

He goes to pull away, but your fingers cling onto his lapels keeping him close. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“The instructions were unclear, not my fault.”

You let out an exasperated sigh and point to your lips, “kiss here, please.” 

Dante lowers his lips to yours ever so slowly. They press against yours softly, brushing together in a begging manner. When his tongue traces across your bottom lip you can’t help but let him in. He’s always so gentle, but this felt like something else entirely. Each swipe of his tongue against yours felt almost reverent. You find yourself clinging tightly to him, completely lost in the moment. His kiss leaves you breathless. 

Slowly he breaks away and rests his head against yours, his eyes digging into yours. “Was that what you had in mind?”

You nod vigorously, unable to trust your voice. 

“Okay, back to work!” he announces as he lets go of you. “I have a lot of book sorting to do before bed.” The abruptness surprises you so much that you almost topple over. You would complain, but you still can’t find your voice.

You just shake your head at him as he begins to dart around the room, shoving books into empty spaces. His own room isn’t nearly as organised as his office, there aren’t any colour coded boxes and shelves, just random books placed wherever he could make them fit. It felt good to see that he wasn’t always so well put together. His bedroom was a mess of precious things, just like yours was. However, he had a lot more books than you did, and a lot less stuffed toys. A part of you dreads him ever coming to your bedroom and seeing your stuffed toy friends. It wasn’t exactly very Satanic to have a large pile of stuffed animals. Even some of your (former) close friends had mocked your habit of adopting what you thought were lonely looking toys in second hand stores. You blame Toy Story for that.   
You didn’t think that Dante would mock you, that wasn’t his style. But it would probably freak him out a little. Eventually he would come to your room and everything would be laid bare, but for now you would keep your weirdness to yourself. 

You pick up your makeup bag and wander over to his bathroom. You just had the basics with you, duplicates of what you have in your own bathroom so that you are never caught short. There isn’t much room in his bathroom either. It’s around about the same size as yours with a simple shower, toilet and sink. You already had your own shampoo, conditioner and body wash in the shower box. You had worried that Dante would be put off by the sudden invasion upon his space, but it didn’t seem to bother him in the least. In fact, he had encouraged it. 

You come back out of the bathroom and watch as he struggles to shove more books into places where they obviously wouldn’t fit. 

He sighs as a book tumbles off the shelf. You would suggest digital books to him, but technology wasn’t really his friend. He still had an old flip-phone for Satan’s sake. Watching him type out a text message was painful, but somehow adorable at the same time. Sometimes he acts like such an old man. 

“You shouldn’t get too comfortable here,” he says looking across the room at you. 

You turn around and give him a look. He was the one who invited you to take up space in his room and now he was changing his mind?

“I-I don’t mean it like that Princess,” he smiles nervously at you. “I’m in negotiations to get a bigger room. I’m a Cardinal after all, a red Cardinal. I shouldn’t be up here with the juniors and their small rooms. This room and bed are much smaller than what I had in Tuscany. This bed is only a double for Satan’s sake, I want at least a queen size one, and enough space for more shelves,” Dante surveys his room. “Oh and space for a nice big loveseat.”

“Loveseat or casting couch?” you giggle as a light blush covers his cheeks.

“Well, the intention is a loveseat, but I wouldn’t say no to… extracurricular activities.”

“I didn’t think for a second that you would,” you smile wickedly at him. “So who are you negotiating with to get this bigger room?”

“One other Cardinal and myself both want it, it comes down to Sister Imperator to decide who gets it.”

“So I guess we’re going to be working overtime and kissing a lot of ass for the foreseeable future?” you drop dramatically down onto the bed. 

It’s Dante’s turn to shoot you a look, “we’ll be doing our usual excellent work. However, there is one slight issue with the room.” He sits next to you and takes hold of your hand.

“What?” his seriousness makes you a little worried.

“It’s in the basement, near the crypts.”

“Is that all? You had me worried it’d be sharing a wall with Papa Nihil and I’d have to listen to old people sex noises. The crypts don’t scare me.”

He looks relieved, but he doesn’t let go of your hand. It feels nice being so close to him. He was slowly getting used to showing affection. “There are rumours of ghosts and poltergeists, that doesn’t scare you?”

“It does scare me a little, not going to lie,” you squeeze his hand. “But if I come across one, I’ll just run away and hide behind you. You’ll protect me won’t you my sweet, brave darling?”

“Of course I will protect you, unless it’s scary. If it is too scary, you’re on your own Princess.”

You playfully shove his shoulder, “my knight in shining armour.”

“Only the best for you, cara mia,” he picks up your hand and kisses the back of it. “Oh! And the other room has a kitchen as well. We can cook dinner together.” His eyes light up when he makes that suggestion.

“I hate to burst your bubble, but I can’t cook for shit. I can bake just fine, cakes, cookies, that kind of stuff, but not actual dinner. It always turns out badly.”

“Well then, I can make dinner and you can make the dessert.”

You smile at his unexpected answer. 

“It’ll be nice to have someone to cook for,” he says, speaking more to himself than you. “I never really cooked much in Tuscany because I would only have myself to cook for. I would always end up making too much and that is how Francis got so fat.”

“So you’re going to make me fat?”

“You can make me fat with desserts,” he suggests with a shrug.

“Sounds perfect to me! So when do we begin our sabotaging?”

Dante raises an eyebrow at you.

“You said no ass-kissing, so naturally we’ll be sabotaging your opponent right?”

“You’re such a bad girl Gabriel,” he tries to scold you seriously, but you can see the corners of his lips quirking upwards in a smile. 

“I’m not hearing a definitive no?” you question.

“I’m trusting you to use your best judgement my Princess,” he pauses for effect. “We won’t do anything that will adversely affect the smooth operation of the church. However, we can make Cardinal Evans look incompetent without too much effort. Late to a meeting or two, some misplaced paperwork. Small things like that which will annoy Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator. But these small things will always add up.”

“You’ve been thinking about this for a while, haven’t you?” You didn’t really know anything about Cardinal Evans, but that wouldn’t stop you from helping Dante undermine him. 

“Not too long,” he shrugs. “How do you think I earnt so many employee of the month awards in the first place?”

“Because you work harder for longer hours than literally anyone else I’ve ever met.” There wasn’t an ounce of attempted flattery in your words. Your Cardinal works himself to the bone for this place.

He gives you a weak smile, “if only that was enough. In order to stand out you must not only work harder than everyone else and fend off saboteurs, but you must also play the sabotage game as well. If you do it well, no one will ever suspect a thing.”

You nod in understanding. Dante catches the strange look in your eyes.

“Yes Princess?”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, my darling, but when I first met you I didn’t understand how you had become such a high ranking Cardinal. You were nervous and hiding away in the dark from a group of would-be admirers. I understand those feelings completely, I just didn’t understand how a person like that could become so highly favoured within the church. All of the other Cardinals seem so full of pride and confidence, but you sometimes still stutter when a pretty Sister says good morning to you. But I think I understand now.”

“And what is it that you think you understand cara mia?” his voice has taken on a strange tone. 

You’ve said the wrong thing, you should have just left it alone. Who were you to question why Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator favoured him? You take a deep breath, your next words were either going to dig you out of this hole, or dig you further down. “You are all of those things and more. You are nervous and shy, that isn’t just a mask you wear to fool people, but perhaps sometimes you exaggerate it, or you play on it. No one suspects sabotage from a shy Cardinal who always hands in his paperwork on time.” Maybe this is what The Second had meant when he warned you about the Cardinal. 

Dante studies you for a moment, his intense eyes never leaving yours. Slowly a smile spreads across his face. “Don’t go telling people my secret little Princess,” he kisses the back of your hand again. 

“Your secret is safe with me,” you smile up at him. 

He presses his lips to yours in a quick kiss, effectively sealing the deal. The two of you spend the rest of the night plotting to undermine Cardinal Evans without being too obvious. It was a simple enough plan to orchestrate and honestly he could have done the entire thing without you noticing. Even though he didn’t have to, Dante changes his plans to include you. It brought a strange warmth to your heart to be included in his plans. You never knew that Dante could be so calculating, but somehow it seemed to fit his personality perfectly. You can’t wait to do more sneaky and underhanded things with him in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been so terrible at updating! My new job has me working late shift & by the time I'm finished I usually just drop into bed. I've got bits and pieces written all over the timeline, it's just a matter of putting them in the right places... Basically I'm a bit of a mess :D


	21. Chapter 21

It took you a good 10 minutes to force your Cardinal to extract himself from his pile of paperwork and come to lunch. He kept asking for ‘2 more minutes’ but it had become an endless cycle. He was going to make himself sick if he kept putting meals off in favour of paperwork. In the end you had to threaten him with never seeing you fully naked again. That made him leap out of his seat and out of the office door before you could even finish your sentence. 

You wish that you could sit together with him, Cardinals had their own tables separate to the Siblings of Sin. You couldn’t even play footsie with him under the table because he was half a room away. At least he was eating though. You wouldn’t have to listen to his stomach growl any more. 

You finished your lunches at the same time and exited the dining hall. In the abandoned corridors of office block you slipped your hand into his and held tight. Small stolen moments like these were a secret pleasure if yours. He never protested, sometimes his hand sought out yours first. Like most things, he was rigid at first, but he always came around in the end. You’d come to the conclusion that he’d never really had an affectionate partner before. He was nervous and didn’t always know how to respond. Sometimes you worry that you’re making him uncomfortable with all the affection you throw at him, but you hope that if that was the case, he would say something to you. 

This time you both reach out for each other, awkwardly smacking your fingers together. Dante catches your hand, eyes darting around looking for other people. Seeing no one, he raises your hand to his lips and kisses the back of it. 

“Sorry cara,” he mumbles. 

You smile up at him, you can’t help the blush that covers your cheeks, “it’s alright.” 

“Why do you always blush when I kiss you here?” he kisses the back of your hand again. 

“It’s romantic,” you say with a shrug. “Romance makes me blush?”

With your free hand you grab onto the front of his cassock and pull him down to your height. You kiss him, and then it’s his turn to blush. 

Slowly you tear yourself away from him. “We should get back to work, the sooner we start the sooner we finish.”

“And here I was thinking that you liked things slow,” he winks at you. 

“Did you just make a dirty joke Cardinal Copia?”

“Of course not Sister Desiderata, I would never be so inappropriate.” He keeps hold of your hand and you both walk back to the office. 

The door to the office is unlocked and partially open so that a sliver of light falls into the corridor. You share a concerned look and Dante drops your hand. Who knows who could be sitting on the other side of the door, waiting for the two of you to return. 

You push the door open. 

The Third is sitting on the couch, one leg crossed over the other. He looks comfortable, like he belongs there. 

Dante’s eyes widen in surprise as he enters the office behind you. He’s so startled that he walks right into the back of you. 

“Ah, there you are Sister,” he says. “I was looking for you.” 

“Good afternoon Papa,” you bow your head to him in respect. Even if he did fail to acknowledge your Cardinal standing right behind you. “How can I help you?”

“Come in, come in, you too Cardinal, and shut the door behind you.” 

The Cardinal does as he’s told, shutting the door and locking it behind him. Knowing Papa, this could either be a very serious conversation, or something completely irrelevant. Usually there was no way to tell until you were half way through a conversation with him. 

Papa motions for the two of you to sit on the couch opposite him. You sit first and Dante follows closely behind. Your Cardinal also crosses his legs, then he slings his arm across the back of the couch behind you. You can’t tell if he’s trying to send Papa a subtle message or not. But if Papa notices anything, he doesn’t mention it. As subtly as possible you turn your body towards Dante, so close that you’re almost touching. 

“You’re very pretty Sister,” Papa states, “yet we have never slept together have we?”

“No Papa, we haven’t,” you don’t like to think about where he is going with this train of thought. 

“But you have slept with my older brother, the Second, correct?”

Shit. You’ve never mentioned that to Dante, you didn’t think that it would matter much to him, but having Papa blurt it out like that isn’t how you wanted him to find out. “Yes Papa, he performed my initiation ritual.”

“But you slept with him after that as well, didn't you? You had a relationship? 

Double shit. You can feel Dante’s eyes on you, but he doesn’t say anything. Papa was digging a hole for you and he didn’t even know it. “Yes Papa, the Second and I did sleep together multiple times, but I wouldn’t call it a relationship.”

Papa nods his head in understanding. “I can’t help but wonder why you have never slept with Papa?”

You could feel your cheeks brighten with a blush. You didn’t want to discuss this with Papa, let alone with a silent Cardinal sitting next to you. Doesn’t Papa understand how awkward and weird this conversation is?   
“If I may speak freely Papa?”

He nods. 

“You’re simply not my type,” you pause, “you’re too high maintenance for me.” 

He nods again. Now his silence is beginning to worry you as much as Dante’s is. 

“We could not date either,” Papa says. 

You shake your head. Definitely not. 

“Tell me Sister, what do you look for in a partner?” 

You can feel your cheeks heating up again, why was Papa torturing you like this? “My boyfriend is everything that I look for in a partner. He is endlessly patient and kind even though I know that I must frustrate him, he doesn’t complain. Even though he is so much smarter than me, he never makes me feel stupid. In fact, he fills me with confidence -“

Before you can say more, Papa interrupts, “and what about the sex?” 

“He’s hung like a horse and eats pussy like a starving lesbian,” you say with a shrug. “Like I said, he’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”

“Hung like a horse?” Papa pauses, perhaps unfamiliar with the euphemism. “Ah yes, very large.” 

Out of the corner of your eye you can see your Cardinal blushing. Although over which part of your description of him, you aren’t sure. 

“What about you Cardinal?” Papa turns his attention to him. 

His eyes widen, “what do you mean Papa?”

“Are you dating someone?”

Your Cardinal nods, “yes. It’s new and I fear that I’m stumbling around a lot. She surprised me at first, I never thought she would see me the way I saw her. She is gentle and full of affection, but she is also fiery.”

“The sex?” Papa questions. 

Dante’s blush is getting worse, it makes you want to crawl onto his lap and see how red he can really get. 

“S-She is magnificent,” he says almost dreamily. “She makes me feel like a horny teenager every time I see her.”

His description doesn’t seem to satisfy Papa, “good at sucking dick?” he questions. 

“The best,” Dante replies. “Lust itself could not compare.”

Papa taps his finger to his chin thoughtfully and then he nods. “Papa is very good in bed, I’ve been told so by every partner whose legs I’ve slipped between. Papa can be kind and gentle...” Papa trails off. His eyes have a far off look in them and then in the next instant they snap back to you and Dante. “So why not Papa?”

“May I still speak freely Papa?” you ask. 

Papa nods. Figuring his problem out was more important than his ego at the moment. He understood that. 

“Relationships are give and take, you’ve always come across as the taking kind. Like being with you would be more effort than the joy that would come out of it.”

“I can assure you Sister, Papa is a very good giver,” he winks at you. 

“That isn’t what I meant Papa and I think you know that.” 

Papa sighs, “Papa understands perfectly. Do you think the same Cardinal?”

Your Cardinal just nods, like he doesn’t trust the words in his mouth. 

Papa sighs, it’s not his usual dramatic sigh designed to garner attention. This one has a distinctly sad undertone to it, “I knew I wasn’t wrong.”

“Wrong about what?” you ask. 

“Patience, affection, gentleness, they’re all important in a relationship. So why would someone date someone who has none of those things?”

You think for a moment, “maybe they showed those things in the beginning, but they changed? Time changes people, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. You don’t want to give up on the person, you want to help them back to where they were.”

Dante nods beside you. 

“Or maybe you start to become more like them,” Papa mused out loud. 

Suddenly what he is talking about clicks in your mind. He’s talking about Eliana. “You’re talking about Sister Redemptio, aren’t you?” 

Papa nods, he runs his stark white glove through his dark hair. A move that always makes the Siblings of Sin swoon. “She is not who she was. She never looks happy anymore, but she always says that she is. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say ‘I’m happy’ as much as I’ve heard her saying it. Sometimes I catch her crying and instead of letting her Papa comfort her, she lashes out. She’s always been fiery, but not like this. I don’t know what to do Sister.”

“I can’t help you Papa.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both,” you save definitively. “She discarded me, not the other way around. I still love her, but she made her choice.”

“It was the wrong choice,” Papa looks directly into your eyes as he speaks. “The Brother she is dating is stealing away her happiness. I don’t know why she would choose a man like that over her Papa.”

“She wants to be loved. He could give her that when no one else would.”

“Papa could love her, better than anyone else,” he whispers it. 

Beside you, you hear Dante gasp. He’s finally clicked onto what this conversation has been about. Papa loves Sister Redemptio. Or at least he thinks that he loves her. 

“Before you try to break their relationship apart I want you to answer me one thing,” you say. 

The sadness in his mismatched eyes is replaced with a burning anger, “what?”

“What is her name?”

Papa’s eyes widen, “she is Sister Redemptio.”

“Her first name.”

You can feel Dante watching you out of the corner of his eye. He is silently begging you to stop talking. He doesn’t want Papa to throw himself into a rage over your words, no matter how truthful they may be. Dante leans closer to you, putting more of himself between you and Papa. 

“How can you say that you could love her better when you don’t even remember the first thing about her? Validus may upset her, but he gave her enough to make her choose him over everyone else.”

“She promised never to leave her Papa,” his voice remains quiet. 

“She promised that we would be best friends forever, like I said, time changes people.” 

“I refuse to accept it,” he says firmly. His fist clenches so tightly you can hear his gloves creaking in protest. As quick as a flash he stands up, “thank you Sister, and you Cardinal. Now Papa must leave, there is much work to be done.”

Without another word he turns on his heel and is out of sight before the door closes behind him. 

You sink back onto Dante and let out a sigh of relief. Papa was gone and most likely wouldn’t return any time soon. You feel your Cardinal press his lips to your temple. 

“Papa is a whirlwind isn’t he?” you say tentatively. 

“I believe he is what people call a beautiful disaster.”

“A pain is my ass is what he is,” you turn around and bury your face in Dante’s chest. “I need a nap after all that mental gymnastics.”

“I think you were very eloquent Princess. I don’t know if anyone else would be able to tell Papa he is selfish and high maintenance and still keep their head.” His fingers stroke through your hair.

“There’s still time,” you mumble. 

“No, I think he appreciated your honesty, even if it stung.” 

“So I’m safe for now?”

“Safe from the Third yes, but he isn’t the only viper in this snake pit. I’ll have to keep you extra close for a while,” he pulls you tighter to his body and squeezes you. 

“I could get used to that,” you squeeze your arms around his waist in return. 

His fingers curl under your chin and gently force you to look up at him. He stares at you, studying your face for some unknown reason. It’s a little unnerving when he does it. This isn’t the first time. It’s like he’s searching for something, but even he doesn’t know what it is. 

“What’s wrong?”

Just like that, he snaps out of his daze and a shy smile creeps up on his face. “The things you said about me, did you mean them?”

“Every last word darling,” you dart forward and kiss him quickly. 

“You told Papa that I’m hung like a horse,” he’s blushing bright red again. 

You slip a hand down to his thick thigh and squeeze. He jumps a little and clamps his hand down over yours, effectively immobilising you. “He doesn’t know I was talking about you. Although, your bright red blush may have given him a little hint.”

Dante shakes his head, “no, no, he wasn’t paying attention to me. He was far too concerned with other things.”

The two of you sit there, cuddling in silence until you can’t handle it any longer. You know that he is going to ask sooner or later, so you might as well rip the bandaid off now and get it over with. 

“Are you mad that I never told you about being with the Second?” 

Dante looks down at you, “of course not Princess. Whomever came before me is none of my business, unless you want to talk about it.”

A smile spreads across your face, “how did I get so lucky?”

Dante raises an eyebrow at you in question. 

“You’re not the jealous type, it’s a nice change.”

“I feel that if you wanted to be with the Second, you would be with him.”

“I don’t want to be with him, I want to be with you,” you confirm. 

“Then I have no reason to be jealous of him.”

Dante holds you close, but you know it won’t last long. That little interlude with Papa has already thrown off the days schedule. Your Cardinal is probably itching to get back to work. The huge stack of paperwork in his inbox had mostly been moved to the outgoing box, but it was still a sizeable pile. 

“The paperwork is calling to me cara mia,” he whispers. “It begs me to do it. I don’t want to do it, it isn’t attractive.”

“Then you should find something attractive and do that instead.”

He laughs lightly, “I’ll leave that until later tonight, it gives me something to look forward too.” 

You feign a look of surprise, “and who will you be doing tonight?”

“Hopefully you,” he says with a wink. He actually winked at you. “If not, then I’ll do myself.”

You squeeze his thigh, “You can do me tonight, but only if you promise to make it slow and sensual.”

“Princess, you can have it however you want,” his fingers play with the ends of your hair, curling and twisting it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papa Emeritus III makes an appearance!   
> How did you guys like this chapter?


	22. Chapter 22

The morning of Jessica’s lawyer appointment rolled around slower than you had anticipated. It had taken slightly longer than originally planned to get an appointment with the lawyer, but she had made space for Cardinal Copia and his interesting case in her busy schedule. Being the lawyer for the Church, you could only imagine some of the things that she would have to defend you all against. If the attitude of the local police force was anything to go by, the lawyer must have to be constantly on her guard. The very thought of going to see such an important person within the wider workings of the church has made you a little nervous, but you were doing your best to hide it. You didn’t have any obvious nervous ticks like your Cardinal does, so it’s harder to tell when you’re frightened or anxious. 

Dante had decided that two of his ghouls would be accompanying you into the city. He wants to show Jessica that he is serious about her security, and this was the best way that he knew how. Your Cardinal couldn’t have picked two ghouls who seemed more opposite if he tried. One of them is the large ghoul that you had met a couple of times before, Aether. The other was a much shorter, almost stick thin fire ghoul. He looks like a gentle summer breeze could knock him over. The fire ghoul was apparently called Dewdrop and you could almost feel the chaotic energy radiating from him. At this point you can’t tell whether it will be fun chaos, or dangerous chaos. However, Dante must have chosen him for a reason, so you don’t bother worrying too much about it. 

Your Cardinal had dropped the lovely bombshell that his two ghouls already knew you were at the very least sleeping together on a regular basis. Apparently ghouls have a strong sense of smell and the mixture of your scents on each other makes it obvious to them. What made it all the worse was the smaller ghoul making a lewd hand gesture of his long slender fingers of one hand being inserted into a circle made with his other hand. Mercifully, Jessica has already struggled into the car and didn’t see the gesture. Aether smacked Dewdrop across the back of his head but all it did was make the small ghoul grin wickedly beneath his mask. Although Dante saw the ghouls little display, he couldn’t say anything for fear of Jessica overhearing. He did give Dewdrop an angry look, but again, the only reaction from the ghoul was an ever widening grin. 

The ride into the city wasn’t overly long, but it had been filled with an awkward silence. Jessica was too nervous and worried to carry any sort of conversation. Dante was his quiet self as usual and you had no idea how to breach the silent void, so you stayed quiet as well. All you want to do right now is to pull the teenager close and keep holding onto her until everything is finally over and she is safe. Then, you want to hunt down her mother and step-father and make them suffer for what they had done to such a sweet, kind young girl. You feel more than just upset by her situation, but Dante is taking it personally. He had to pull a lot of strings to get the appointment with the lawyer and he had made many angry sounding phone calls just to get the process this far. As always, his anger is calm and calculated. He never raises his voice, but you can feel the atmosphere around him change. It takes you a lot of cuddling and reassuring to get him back to normal, but he always comes back to you. 

You could have parked closer to the lawyer’s office, but the parking building was far too expensive and the church wouldn’t spring for that kind of extravagance. Your Cardinal had tried to argue that making a heavily pregnant teenager walk the extra distance wasn’t appropriate, but he had been quickly shot down. Apparently his decision to provide sanctuary to Jessica was still a rather unpopular one. He didn’t explain to you what had been said, he just mumbled about it for several hours afterwards while pacing around his office. All the while vowing never to help out a certain Cardinal ever again. You didn’t tell him, but he was rather cute when he was grumpy. 

The lawyer’s office is on the top floor of an impressively large building. You didn’t really realise how far the influence of the church stretched until you were sitting in the waiting room. The walls were covered in rich dark oak wood and the floor was covered in white marble. You can’t help but feel a little underdressed and very outclassed sitting on the black leather sofa. The lawyer that Dante was taking Jessica to see was definitely someone to be taken seriously. Your Cardinal had only been joking when he suggested that you needed to be on your best behaviour today, but now you are left guessing just how much of a joke it really was. Both you and Jessica are nervously fidgeting. You’re only left feeling nervous because of how out of your league this lawyer seems. You can only imagine how Jessica feels about the entire situation. You wish that there was an easier way to deal with this, some way that didn’t involve a lawyer or anything else like that. But this was the best bet to keep her safe, so there is nothing else you can do. 

Dante for once isn’t showing any hint of nervousness, he looks utterly calm. He isn’t wearing his usual black cassock, instead he’s wearing a midnight black suit with a black shirt and a black tie. It was almost the same as the suit he wore on the night you shared your drunken dance. The only difference was that on the left pocket of his suit jacket an elaborate silver grucifix had been stitched. You want to cuddle up to him and try to steal some of his calm energy, but that certainly wouldn’t be a good idea right now. You need to be professional. The last thing anyone needs is for you to mess things up somehow. 

Your appointment was supposed to be for eleven o’clock, but you had already been waiting for half an hour longer than that. With every tick of the clock, you could feel yourself becoming more and more nervous. 

After forty-five minutes of sitting in silence and waiting, an immaculately dressed secretary emerged from behind the heavy door to the lawyer’s office. “Unfortunately Ms. Vitale’s current appointment is taking longer than expected. She wishes for me to assure you that you will still be seen today. However, she suggests that you all go out for lunch as she does not expect the meeting to finish before 1pm. The price of the lunch may be charged to the company as a gesture of apology for making you wait so long.” The secretary bowed after her statement and then went back into the office, effectively stopping any chance of protest. 

Jessica looks to you and Dante and whispers, “what the hell?”

You just shrug at her, not knowing what to say. It certainly wasn’t what you were expecting to happen either. 

Your Cardinal pulls himself up out of the plush leather sofa. He turns and offers you his hand and you take it without hesitation. He helps you up and then you both turn to help Jessica up. Her hands are clammy and cold.

Cardinal Copia wrings his hands together, “I’m sorry about this,” he says.

“It’s not your fault Cardinal,” you reassure him. “We’ll still be seen today, we just have to wait a little longer first. Now what kind of food does everyone want for lunch?”

“Pizza!” Jessica exclaims. She clamps her hand over her mouth quickly, “I didn’t mean for it to come out that loud,” she pouts. “I just have a massive pizza craving.”

“Are there any good pizza restaurants around here?” Cardinal Copia asks.

“There’s an all-you-can-eat pizza place a couple of streets over. They have pretty good pizzas considering the style of restaurant it is. There is also a restaurant a couple of streets over on the other side that cooks their pizzas in wood fired ovens. It is a little more expensive than usual, but they have really good desserts too. So I suppose it depends on what you really want.”

“All-you-can-eat sounds really good right now,” Jessica suggests. “But so does the place with desserts. I can’t decide, so you guys do it.”

“Are you sure?” your Cardinal questions.

“Pizza is pizza,” she explains with the biggest smile that you’ve seen in a while. You can’t blame her, you have a hard time choosing between the two restaurants as well. 

“Well, the Ghouls will eat anything, so the choice comes down to you and me. Which would you prefer ca-Sister?”

“We are not paying?”

“Apparently not.”

“Then let's go to the second place. I could definitely go for some gourmet pizza right now.” 

“Then lead the way.”

______________________________________________________________________

You were lucky to get a table at the restaurant outside in the sunshine. Cardinal Copia sat next to you and the ghouls sat on either side of Jessica. Under the table you slip your hand onto his knee. You would have placed it on his thigh instead, but you didn’t think that he would be able to handle such an interaction with a straight face. 

Each of you ordered your own pizza, the ghouls picking pizzas that were more meat than anything else. You and Jessice couldn’t decide between a couple of pizzas, so you decided to pick one each and share. You chose a pesto and feta cheese pizza and she chose one with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and mozzarella. You Cardinal decided on a simple margherita pizza, but you let him know that if he wanted, he could have some of yours as well. 

Before the pizzas arrived the ghouls and the Cardinal left briefly to go to the bathroom. Why they all needed to go at the same time was beyond you, but you didn’t make a comment. You would just tease him about it later. 

When they are out of earshot, Jessica leans over the table and beckons for you to lean closer as well. 

“So… what do you think of Cardinal Copia?” she has a mischievous glint in her eyes. 

“What do you mean?” you raise an eyebrow at her.

“He’s very kind isn’t he? And he’s sweet and considerate. He stood up for me against that terrible Cardinal ASS-ange,” she made sure to put emphasis on the ‘ass’ part of his name. “He’s a bit on the way-too-old side for me, but I guess he could still be considered good looking right? What do you think? Do you think he is good looking?”

You don’t want to lie to her, but you and Dante agreed to keep your relationship a secret. You would just have to answer her as truthfully as possible without letting anything about your relationship slip. “Yes,” you nod, “I do think that he is handsome.” 

Jessica’s eyes widen, “I knew you had a thing for him!” she claps her hands together excitedly. “I think that he has a thing for you too. He’s always got this little smile on his face when he looks at you, and he looks at you a lot.”

You can’t help but blush when she tells you that. “I hadn’t noticed,” it's the truth.

“Trust me, he definitely has a thing for you. But he’s also really shy,” she took a sip from her glass of water. “Which is why I’ve decided that if you two are going to get together, you have to make the first move.”

You’re about to say something back to her, but you spot you Cardinal and his ghouls returning to the table. They all slip back into their seats just before your food arrives. Jessica doesn’t mention anything further about her plan for you and the Cardinal, but she does give you a little wink when no one is looking. 

The ghouls aren’t the only ones who devour their food quickly. Even Cardinal Copia doesn’t bother using the knife and fork provided, preferring to use his hands instead. When dessert comes around, you all tuck into that quickly as well. 

________________________________________________________________________

The lawyer, Ms. Vitale is certainly an imposing woman. She is just a little taller than you, but the way she holds herself makes her seem ten feet tall. She’s an older woman with grey hair that sits perfectly on her shoulders. She has a string of black pearls around her neck and several of her fingers are adorned with expensive looking jewelled rings. 

She beckons for you all to take a seat, but she still hasn’t looked up from the pile of papers on her desk. In that way, she reminds you of Dante. Always focused on work. You all decided to sit in silence until she finally addressed you.

“I am sorry about the delay Cardinal Copia,” she nods towards him, “and companions. I believe introductions are in order.”

You Cardinal clears his throat, “there is no need to apologise Ms. Vitale. I know how busy you are, and we all appreciate you taking the time to see us today. My companions are Miss Jessica,” he gestures to the young girl sitting next to him. “And Sister Desiderata,” he gestures towards you, sitting on the other side of Jessica. He doesn’t mention the ghouls, but you guess that is because they are here for protection and not anything else. 

“Good afternoon Miss Jessica, Sister,” she nods to each of you in acknowledgement. “If no one minds, I would like to get straight down to business.”

“As you wish,” the Cardinal replies. 

“You didn’t tell me much over the phone Cardinal. From what I understand you, Jessica,” she gestures towards her, “want to remove the parental rights from the father of your unborn children.”

Jessica nods her head but can’t find the words to speak. You can see that her hands are shaking as she clasps them in her lap. 

“I’ll need you to use your words. I understand that the situation is scary, but if you can’t speak to me, how will you be able to speak in front of a judge?”

Jessica clears her throat, “y-yes Ms. Vitale. However, the Cardinal left out the part where the father of my twins is also my step-father.”

The lawyers face darkens, “how old are you?”

“I’m going to be 16 in a couple of months.”

“I see,” she writes something down in a notebook. “Tell me everything.”

Jessica takes a deep breath, then begins her tale. She tells Ms. Vitale everything that she told you and Dante. By the end of her explanation, she is in tears and clutching tightly to your hand. Cardinal Copia passes her a handkerchief and she takes it gratefully. You take your free hand and pull her into a gentle hug. The small girl all but launches herself into your arms and sobs. No one makes an attempt to speak while Jessica does her best to calm down. 

“Thank you for telling me that,” the lawyer finally says. “Do you know your due date?”

“I’ve got a couple of months left, but the doctors say that things could change because I’m so young and I’m carrying twins.”

“I see,” Ms. Vitale opens a drawer and slides a notebook across the table towards Jessica. “We have a lot of work to do and not all that much time.”

“I’m sorry,” she squeaks out. 

“None of this is your fault. It just changes my approach slightly. I know how uncomfortable this will make you, but I need the details to be written down. From the first time it occurred to the last time. We need to establish a pattern, that it started out seemingly innocent and then as you got older it became inappropriate to say the least.”

Jessica looks at the large blank book in front of her. “What exactly do you want me to write?”

“For example, the thing that you wanted and what cost he made you pay for it. You mentioned a school trip, yes?” she didn’t wait for an answer. “The financial cost of the trip, the approximate dates of the trip and what he took from you in return.”

Jessica nods, “I understand. The more details, the better,” tears are brimming in her eyes. 

You see Dante straighten up, you both realised that in order to spare her from more harm, she had to go through more pain first, but you didn’t expect it to be quite like this. She’s been through so much, she doesn’t deserve to have to live through it again.

As if she senses your shared concern, she turns her attention to you and Dante. “I understand that you are worried about your young charge, but this is just the beginning.”

Jessica puts a hand on top of yours and your Cardinals and gives them both a reassuring pat. “It’s okay guys. If I want to be free, then I would have had to do this eventually. At least if I do it now, I’ll have you two by my side.” 

“Of course you will,” you reaffirm. 

“Should I start now?” she asks, turning her attention back to the task at hand. 

“The sooner the better,” the lawyer nods. She slides a pen over to Jessica. 

Jessica turns first to you and then to Cardinal Copia, “I’ll be a while here. You two should go out and explore the town for a little bit.”

Your Cardinal shakes his head, “no, we will stay here with you. We made you a promise.”

The small girl smiles, “I know that. But there isn’t anything you can really help me with now. You can’t write for me,” she explains. “But I know that I’ll need you both later. When it comes to being in front of the judge like Ms. Vitale mentioned.”

“Are you sure that it’s alright to leave you here?” you ask. Both of you promised to stay with her every step of the way and leaving now seems more than a little counterproductive. 

Jessica just smiles up at you. It’s not that you don’t trust the ghouls and the lawyer to keep her safe, it’s just that you can’t help but feel the urge to be protective over her. She isn’t a burden or a responsibility to you, but she is yours. 

“Everything will be fine Sister, enjoy some free time.”

“Only if you insist,” Cardinal Copia says. He stands up and nods to his ghouls, a short signal of trust that they’ll keep her safe in your absence. The ghouls don’t say anything, but it seems they understand the silent order. You wonder if Dante’s ghouls can speak, or if they just choose not to. You would have to ask him more about that some other time. 

“Take her somewhere nice Cardinal!” Jessica exclaims before waving the both of you away. 

With his hand on the small of your back, he guides you out of the office. The door closes heavily behind you. As soon as you two are alone in the elevator, he snatches up your hand and holds it tightly with his own. He doesn’t really want to leave Jessica behind either, but his emotions are less obvious to the untrained eye. 

You give his hand a quick squeeze, “she’ll be fine darling. You said so yourself, she is strong, and your ghouls are with her. She is safe.”

Dante looks down at you, his white eyes intense as always. “I know these things rationally cara mia, but my stupid heart won’t listen.”

“Oh darling,” you squeeze his hand again. You pull at his tie and he bends down to your height. “Come with me and I’ll do my best to distract you for a little while,” you kiss him ever so softly. “We can go for a walk along the waterfront? Or go to that bottle store you spotted?”

“It did look like they had a large selection of wine, didn’t it?” he gives in slightly. 

You nod, “yes, enough that you definitely need to spend some time in there having a good look.” 

He smiles at you, it’s weak, but it’s better than nothing. “Wine shopping for me, then I will take you somewhere nice.”

“I did see a lingerie store near the bottle store,” you smile as his eyes widen and his mouth drops open a little. 

“That is certainly a distraction cara mia.” Dante all but drags you out of the office building and down the street towards both stores.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no update! Seriously though, I'm sorry that it took me this long to update.  
> With everything that has been going on lately, my country has gone into lockdown for 4 weeks (just made it through week 1). I can't work from home, so I'm basically unemployed for that period of time, maybe longer if the lockdown needs to be extended. The upside is that I have a lot more time to write - and a lot more motivation as well! Please feed me with comments if you feel like it!   
> I hope that everyone is doing okay during this time.


	23. Chapter 23

You watch as his head lowers again, before he shakes himself awake for what must be at least the fourth time. Poor Dante is tired, but he is trying his best not to show it. He needs a distraction. 

Again his head dips forward, but this time you toss a balled up piece of paper his way. It hits him square in the middle of his forehead and he jolts back. His mismatched eyes dart straight to you and you look away, pretending to have seen nothing. 

“Yes?”

“What’s wrong darling?” You ask, trying your best to keep the laughter out of your voice. 

“Oh, nothing, just this piece of paper magically floated through the air and hit me in the face.”

“That’s terrible!” you gasp. “I thought we only had ghosts in the basement!” 

He stands up and circles his desk, coming closer to you. There is a wicked glint in his eyes. “Such an action cannot go unpunished,” he lunges towards you. 

A squeak escapes you as you slip out of range at the last second. He lunges again, his hands making contact for just a moment before you’re gone again. You dart around behind the couch on the far side of the room. Keeping plenty of space between you. 

Every time he lunges for you, you manage to slip away. You think that he would have given up by now, but he seems determined to catch you. You giggle as he stumbles slightly over his cassock and you’re able to slip away yet again. 

Dante shoots you a dirty look, but all it does is make you burst out into more laughter. 

“I’ll get you my pretty,” he makes grabbing motions with his hands. 

“Are you the Wicked Witch of the West now?” 

He gives you a wicked smile, “not quite. But she has provided some inspiration. I’ll have to train some of my rat friends to be my flying monkeys.” He makes wing flapping motions with his hands, “it’s a great idea really. I could use more minions.”

“Isn’t that what the ghouls are for?”

“Not nearly cute enough,” he waves his hand dismissively. 

He’s succeeded in distracting you and this time when he lunges forwards to catch you, his fingers catch on your dress. You try to pull away, but you trip over the rug. Dante’s arms reach out to try and stabilise you. It isn’t enough and the both of you tumble backwards onto the couch. His hand cradles the back of your head in a desperate attempt to save you from harm. He couldn’t get any sweeter if he tried. 

He’s laying on top of you, his breathing a little heavy from all the running around. You push your lips up and steal a kiss. 

Dante groans, “no kissing during work hours.” He’s trying his best to be firm with you, but you both know it’s a stupid rule. 

“It’s almost lunchtime,” you say. “And you look like just the kind of snack I want to have.” You spread your legs ever so slightly and then wrap them around his waist. Stealing another kiss from his soft lips, you roll your hips underneath him. Grinding against him, trying your best to get him to give in. 

“Temptress,” he moans. Out of reflex his hips grind back into yours. You’ve almost got him now. 

You take his biretta off and snake a hand into his hair and softly scratch your nails against his scalp. Dante lets out a whimper of pleasure. 

“Well if I look like a snack, then you look like a three course meal at an expensive Italian restaurant,” he says. 

“And you’re not hungry at all?” your other hand toys with his bejeweled grucifix. Trailing up and down over the ridges in what you hope is a seductive manner. 

“Starving,” his voice is low and husky. 

“Then you really should have something,” you wink at him. 

“But the rules...”

“Rules were meant to be broken. Rebel for me darling.”

His eyes darken with lust, “my Princess, you could drive a saint to sin between these legs.” 

“I don’t want a saint my darling, I only want you.”

His soft groans change to a growl and he lunges forward. He pins your arms down above your head and begins his assault on the side of your neck. Gentle kisses are replaced with sharp bites, but he has you moaning nevertheless. He’s going to leave love bites all over your neck and you can’t help but accept them willingly. Dante grinds hard against you as he licks and bites at your neck. No matter how much he may say otherwise, he wants it just as badly as you do. Maybe even more so. 

You press your body up to meet his, writhing underneath him, desperate to get more contact. His length presses heavily between your legs. You try till break out from his grasp so that you can free his erection but his grip is too strong. 

“We’ll have to be quick you know,” you warn him. 

Dante pouts, “I don’t want to go quickly, I like to savour my meals. All five senses must be indulged.”

“Then go lock the door.”

“Shit, yes, good point.” 

Dante lets go of you and untangles himself from your limbs. He darts over to the door and locks it. Not wasting a single moment, he begins pulling off his clothes as he comes back to you. The belt is discarded on the floor along with the short cape, next the cassock is tossed to the floor, followed quickly by his shirt, undershirt, shoes, socks, trousers and finally his underwear. He stands in front of you completely naked and fully erect. So much for wanting to savour things. 

You lay back on the couch, still fully clothed and beckon him forward with the curl of a finger. 

He all but jumps on top of you, eager to get you undressed. 

“I’ll begin with the starter,” he shuffles down your body and flips your dress up. “Then we’ll have the main meal together.”

“What about dessert?” 

“We’ll have dessert later tonight, just to give you something to look forward to.”

“And a midnight snack?”

“You're insatiable,” he says, giving you a look of disbelief. He pulls off your shoes and places them carefully on the floor. 

“It’s your fault,” you shrug. You sit up to help him undress you, but a gentle hand on your shoulder pushes you back down.

His hands creep up the outside of your legs, stopping only when he reaches the top of your stockings. He peels each one off ever so slowly, soft gloves running over warm flesh. He’s teasing you already. You won’t complain though, it’s a form of torture that you can never get enough of. 

You reach out to take him into your hand, but he catches your hand and holds it. “Please no distractions little Princess. There is much for me to savour and your sinful hand is far too talented at bringing things to an end.”

“But I like making you beg me to stop,” you say with the sweetest tone you can.

He brings your hand to his lips and kisses it “let me have my fun cara mia. If I’m going to break my rules, I need to indulge myself fully. Besides, I want you to be the one begging this time.”

You grin up at him, this was going to be a lot of fun. Whenever he indulges himself properly, his face is between your legs until you can barely feel then anymore. 

He looks down at you with a very serious look on his face, “I just don’t know where to start cara mia. The habit has to go obviously,” his hands tug at the black material. “But should I strip you completely? Should I leave you just in your underwear? It seems like such a simple choice and yet I am stumped.”

“Indulge yourself darling,” you purr at him. ”The door is locked and we have all the time in the world.”

“Naked it is!” he announces. 

This time when you sit up to take your habit off, he doesn’t push you back down. After a bit of struggling, you both pull the restrictive material up and over your head. You’re glad that you wore matching underwear today, not that Dante would really care if they didn’t match. Lying underneath him in just your underwear, you arch your back and stick out your chest, trying your best to look seductive. 

He lets out a groan, “that is a very nice bra cara mia, but it has to go.” His arms reach around behind you and effortlessly he undoes the clasps. He’s had a lot of practice recently. His eyes are glued to your breasts and you watch his cock bounce in anticipation. You watch as he snaps himself out of his daze and turns his attention to your panties. He hooks his fingers under the sides and slowly pulls them down. It’s agonising how slowly he can move sometimes, but he wants to savour things and you aren’t going to rush him. He brings the lacy material up to his nose and inhales deeply. You feel your cheeks heating up. 

“Don’t be embarrassed Princess, you smell utterly delicious.”

Before you can speak, he leans down and presses his lips hard against yours. You try to pull him closer, but as quickly as the kiss starts, he breaks away again. 

He shuffles himself down the couch until he is lying comfortably between your legs. Soft gloves spread your legs, opening yourself to him. He focuses on the left leg first, leaving a trail of wet open-mouthed kisses up to your entrance and then back down again. A frustrated sigh leaves your lips, but you know better than to try and rush him. He follows the same slow trail along your right leg. Then he alternates, each time getting just a little bit closer to where you need him to be. You slip a hand down and into his hair, you can only be patient for so long. 

He looks up at you, mismatched eyes asking a silent question. 

“Please Dante,” you moan. 

“As you wish my Princess.”

When his warm, wet tongue finally presses against your clit you let out a moan of relief. Slowly he circles his tongue around your clit, building you up. One hand is hooked around the back of your thigh to keep you in place while the other slips between your legs. He teases your entrance with the tip of his freezing cold finger. He must have taken a glove off when you weren’t looking. At first you squirm away from the cold sensation, startled momentarily, but in a matter of seconds you're trying to push yourself down on his talented fingers. His arm around your thigh forces you to stay in place. He won’t be hurried. You relax your body and force yourself to be patient. You know he’ll bring you pleasure, and lots of it, you just have to be patient. 

You’re rewarded when he slips two fingers inside of you, thrusting them in, curling them up to reach the spot inside of you that adds more fuel to the fire, and then pulling them out. Dante sucks your clit between his lips and you feel your legs begin to tremble in anticipation. 

You strain upwards, desperate for him to touch you more. Finally he gives you what you need. The pace of his fingers increases, pressing against your spot and leaving you a moaning mess beneath him. You can feel your orgasm approaching rapidly. He lets go of your clit and teases the sensitive bud with the tip of his tongue. It makes you writhe and strain forwards for more. You tear your eyes from his face to catch him grinding his hips into the couch. You’re not the only one who is desperate for more. If he’s not careful he’ll leave a stain on his nice couch. A stain that’ll be a little difficult to explain to visitors, but also painfully obvious as to what it actually is. 

“Close,” you manage to say between quick intakes of breath. Full sentences are beyond you right now. 

He hums in response and that is all it takes to send you over the edge. 

The fingers in his hair press him closer and you feel your thighs clamp around his face. He continues to tease your clit, flicking the sensitive bud with the tip of his tongue. 

You can’t stop the string of desperate moans that escape you. He curls his fingers inside of you and prolongs your orgasm, never letting up his assault as he helps you ride through your ecstasy. 

Finally your orgasm comes to a stop and your body relaxes. Dante’s face is a little red, either from a temporary lack of oxygen or from how tightly your thighs were pressed against his face. 

You keep your hand in his hair and use it to gently tug him up. You want to kiss him until you’re both struggling for breath. 

His hot, naked flesh presses against yours. As your tongues twirl together, you feel his cold hands creep up your sides. They find your breasts and begin kneading them. He gropes and squeezes the soft flesh before setting his attention in your nipples. He pinches the hardened peaks and flicks his thumbs over them. Dante breaks away from your kiss and dips his head to take your left nipple into his mouth. He sucks on it, breaking away with a wet pop before turning his attention to the other nipple. 

His hips grind into yours and his cock is pressed between you. Precum smears across your stomachs. He’s enjoying himself so much with your breasts that it seems he’s forgotten about using his cock at all. His mouth on your breasts feels fantastic, but it’s not enough. You promised not to touch his cock, but all you can think about is how desperately you want him to slide into you. 

“Please Dante,” you whine. You arch your back and roll your body underneath him. Trying desperately to hint that he should fuck you. 

Dante’s eyes snap up to meet yours. “Sorry cara, I got carried away. These are just so perfect.”

You smile at him, “if you let me ride you, you won’t have to stop playing with them.” 

Your Cardinal freezes, “that is an excellent idea.” 

He climbs off you and helps you up. His eyes are glued to your naked body, roaming all over without any sense of propriety. 

Dante sits down on the couch and pats his hands on his lap, “look Princess, I’ve prepared a nice warm seat for you,” he says with a wink. “It’s a very comfortable seat. You really must hurry and try it out.” 

“I thought you wanted to savour things.”

“I do, I want to savour every moment of you bouncing up and down on my cock. I’ll have the perfect view of your titties.” 

“Lascivious,” you whisper. You cup your breasts and lean forward, closer to his face. 

“Temptress,” he counters. He places his hands over yours and uses your hands to squeeze your breasts. “See even you can’t keep your hands off yourself!” 

His hands trail down to your waist and he pulls you closer. “Please have a seat, little Princess,” the tone of his voice betrays just how desperate he is. 

You give him the wickedest of smiles before you turn around and climb on to his lap facing away from him. You can feel his throbbing cock pressing against your ass and your back. It’s a little difficult to manoeuvre, but Dante never lets you fall. You can almost feel him pouting behind you and when you turn your head to check, it’s confirmed. 

“What? You told me to take a seat, this is normally how you sit down. It’s not my fault that the instructions were unclear. You should really be more specific next time.”

He doesn’t say anything, he just gives you an exaggerated pout. 

“You’ll be able to grab them better this way,” you say, trying to placate him. You take his hands from your waist and guide them up to your chest. You hold your hands over his as you grind your ass backwards against his cock. 

A gasp slips from his lips, “b-but I like looking too.” 

You let go of one of his hands and reach behind you to take hold of his cock. You rub his cock up and down, giving him a few gentle pumps. Any further protests die in his throat, replaced by soft moans. 

You raise yourself up and aim so that only the very tip of his cock is inside of you. “You can still watch darling,” you sink lower onto his cock, taking him slowly. Inch by inch until he’s fully sheathed inside of you. 

You both let out a sigh of pleasure when your bodies finally join. The hand that was on his cock snakes up and tangles into his hair. You move his head so that he’s looking over your shoulder down at your body. He can’t see everything, but he isn’t protesting any longer. 

You start off slowly, riding up and down on his cock, building a steady rhythm. His hands play with your breasts, holding their weight in his palms. He alternates between pinching your nipples and kneading your breasts. He can’t make up his mind what he wants to do, so he does everything that he can think of. 

You turn your attention to speeding up your pace on his cock. You grind your hips in a circle and tilt your head back in ecstasy as he brushes against your g-spot. 

Dante mutters something against your shoulder and his grip on your breasts tightens almost painfully. 

“What’s wrong?” you manage to ask between gasps. 

He shakes his head, “you’re so good,” he moans. “Sometimes it’s hard to try and control myself.” 

You pull his face closer and kiss his cheek, “then don’t try darling. Give me everything you have.” 

One hand trails down your body, sharp fingernails raking along your flesh. It stings, but you arch into his touch regardless. The hand stops on your hip, gripping it tightly. He tilts his hips underneath you, getting a better angle to take control. Dante slams into you, creating his own intense pace. You have no choice but to clutch into the couch behind him as he continues his brutal pace. Every time that you think you’ve caught your breath, he slams back into you and steals it away. 

He slows himself down, guiding you in slow grinding circles on his cock. His hand ventures down from your hip and makes its way to your clit. Even though he can’t quite see where he is going, his fingers already know the way. As soon as his fingers touch your already sensitive bud, you let out a moan. He draws fast circles around your clit pushing you closer and closer to the edge. He circles his hips slowly, once, twice, then a rough thrust upwards into you. Dante repeats his routine, all the while his fingers around your clit continue their own pace. It’s too much for you to handle and you feel your orgasm wash over you. You cry out his name and your body snaps forwards into his touch. Your legs shake as he continues his assault on your body, doing everything that he can in order to prolong your orgasm. 

Eventually you come to a stop and you slump back against his chest. You’ve teased him enough for now. 

“Let me give you what you really want,” you say as you pull away from his embrace. You climb off his lap. He lets out a little moan of desperation as his throbbing clock slips from you. For a moment he looks panicked, like you’re going to leave him, aching and on the edge. His hands reach out for you, trying to keep you close. 

“Don’t be so worried my darling,” you coo. You straddle his thick thighs, this time facing him. He darts forward, arms encircling you and forcing your body tightly against his. 

He looks up at you, pupils blown wide with lust, “perfectum.”

You take him in your hand before you adjust the angle of your hips and sink down onto his cock. Beneath you he lets out a sigh and his grip on you tightens. 

“Take what you need my darling,” you lean over and whisper into his ear. 

You can feel him trembling beneath you. Like he is fighting to hold himself back even though you just offered him everything he wants. You decide to take the lead and bounce up and down on his cock. Sowly, he begins to match your rhythm, speeding up until he is the one in control. Sweat covers his forehead and the black makeup around his eyes is beginning to run down his cheeks. At this point you are sure that you’re just as much of a mess as him. You’ll fix each other up later, for now all you want is for him to finally have his pleasure. 

You keep your arms around his neck, but you lean back and arch your chest forward. It isn’t the most comfortable position, but the look on Dante’s face is worth it. He watches as your breasts bounce up and down, almost hypnotised. His sharp fingernails dig into your flesh and his breathing is speeding up again. 

Sounds slip from him that could have once been words, but now they are more like incoherent moans. He is so close that you can feel the tension and desperation radiating from him. He wants to give in, but he is holding himself back for some reason. 

“Princess?” his voice is strained. 

“Yes?”

“May I cum inside of you?” His words trail off into a frustrated moan. He’s so close it hurts to hold back. 

“You always can darling,” you reply. Sure it would be a little uncomfortable until you could make your way to the bathroom later, but the pleading look on his face is something you can never say no to. He is just as desperate for you as you are for him. 

“Even in the office?” 

“Especially in the office,” you squeeze your internal muscles around him and that’s when he finally breaks. Your name spills from his lips in a whispered chant as you feel him lose control inside of you. His warmth fills you up and you cling to each other until his movements come to a stop. 

Dante slumps forward and rests his head on your collar bone. 

“Did you enjoy that?” you ask, already knowing the answer. 

You feel him nod against your shoulder. 

“Even though you couldn’t see everything bouncing around as much as usual?” 

You feel him nod again. A hand trails up your body and gropes at your breast. “You were right, holding your titties from behind was very stimulating. But I am glad that you turned around for me. Visual stimulation is very important.” 

“How about next time we do it reverse style, we do it in front of the mirror you have in your bedroom?” 

You feel his head shoot up off your shoulder, “yes!” he exclaims. “For dessert tonight?” 

“If that’s what you want,” you nod. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted something more. Now stand up for me cara mia. I’ve made a mess and I need to clean it up.”

You raise your eyebrow at him, not catching what he means. 

He licks his lips and gives you a wicked smile. “Please stand up for me Princess. I find it easier to show you what I mean, rather than explain myself.”

Your legs still feel a little weak, but you manage to stand up with your hands on his shoulders to keep your balance. Dante’s hands wander straight to your hips and give them an affectionate squeeze. He leans forward and places kisses all over your stomach and hips. His moustache tickles at your skin and you can’t help the way your hips roll forwards, already begging for more. 

“You were gracious enough to let me finish inside of you,” his kisses trail lower. He picks up your leg and places it on the couch next to him. You watch in silent anticipation as he kisses your pussy lips. “So I should really clean you up. Unless you would prefer I don’t?” 

His sinful tongue snakes out of his mouth and brushes against your still sensitive clit. Your hips buck forward and instantly your fingers make their way into his hair.

If you had known that tempting him to rebel against his own rules would lead to a third orgasm in a row, you would have done it so much sooner. Hopefully this would be the beginning of many wonderful lazy office days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray for smut!  
> Why is smut so much easier to write than plot? It isn't fair!


	24. Chapter 24

Making your way from your room to Dante’s at this late time of night is easy. The corridors are always deserted so you don’t have to sneak around. You want to run all the way to his room, but sometimes making him wait is even more fun. When he’s impatient he gets very grabby. Hands squeezing and caressing flesh. The anticipation is enough to make you want to walk even slower. 

The light behind you flickers out. It doesn’t really surprise you, all of the lighting in this section of the old building is terrible. The sooner that Dante gets his new room, the better. 

You hear the sound of heavy footfalls behind you, but when you turn around, you can’t see anything. You shrug it off, the circumstances are a little creepy, but it wasn’t so bad. Nevertheless you feel yourself speeding up. You don’t want to keep Dante waiting anymore, you just want to get out of the corridor. If you can’t handle a dark hallway with flickering lights, how are you going to survive a possibly ghost infested basement? Maybe you would have to start taking Francis everywhere with you. He wouldn’t be able to save you from danger, but even a small companion is better than worrying yourself into imagining things that aren’t there. 

In the darkness you hear something scurry by, it must be one of Dante’s rats off to steal more food. That must have been what you heard. Nevertheless, you quicken your pace towards his room. 

Just as you’re about to reach the safety of the light, a hand wraps around your hair and pulls you backwards. Your arms flail around as you try to keep yourself from slamming into the ground. You’re unsuccessful and you fall roughly onto your ass, the impact nearly knocking the air out of you. The hand is still tangled in your hair, forcing your gaze to the floor. You can’t see who has hold of you, but it is someone strong. Every time you move to try and free yourself, the person twists more of your hair around their hand. 

“Let go!” you demand. 

The person doesn’t say anything, they just use their hand in your hair to slam your head back against the wall. Your skull makes a deep thud against the thick wood and your eyes lose their focus for a moment. 

Finally they let go of you and you struggle to your feet. You don’t care about who is attacking you, you just want to get away as fast as possible. You turn to run away, but your attacker has something else in mind. In a flash they step forward and grab you by the throat. Your attacker pins you against the wall. You close your eyes and brace for the next impact. 

“I know what you’ve been doing you little bitch,” a familiar voice says. 

Your eyes snap open and you’re face to face with Brother Validus. “Let me go you fucking idiot.” 

“I’m not letting go until you promise to stop.”

You can smell the faint hint of alcohol on his breath. You try to use the wall to push yourself away from him, but he’s much stronger and much bigger than you. He tightens his grip on your throat. 

“I know what you’ve been doing you little whore. I know what you’ve been saying about me. Trying to turn my girl against me.”

“I haven’t said anything to Sister Redemptio. We haven’t spoken since you made her end our friendship. Whatever problem she has with you is your own fault.” 

He squeezes his fingers around your throat, tighter and tighter until you start thrashing around, desperate for air. Then he releases the pressure. He has you pinned and gasping for breath. 

“Don’t lie,” he shakes you and slams your head back against the wall. “I know it’s you.” 

Out of the corner of your eye you can see a strikingly white rat with red eyes. It’s Daisy. The rat watches as you struggle against Brother Validus for a moment longer before she disappears. Looks like she wouldn’t be using those powerful teeth of hers to help you out any time soon. She still mustn’t be very fond of you. But none of that would matter if you couldn’t get Validus to at least loosen his grip. 

Darkness begins to seep into your vision, you’re beginning to black out. You try to make a sound, to call for help, but you can’t make a sound. He’s going to kill you. There is nothing that you can do. 

“I suggest that you let go of the Sister immediately,” a voice from out of the darkness commands. You recognise the voice immediately and you feel your fear slip away. It amazes you how he always manages to turn up in time to save you. 

The fingers around your throat give one last squeeze before he lets you go. “We were just having some fun Cardinal,” Validus tries to explain. His face contorts into a smile that he must think looks genuine. 

You slump over, gasping and trying to force the breath back into your lungs. Your lungs burn with the effort and you still feel like you are going to pass out. But at least now you are safe. 

“Come to me Sister,” Dante ignores Validus and holds his hand out to you. You take it and slip behind him, effectively using Dante as a shield. “It doesn’t look like she was having any fun. Such roughness must always be consensual, surely you understand that?”

Validus mumbles something incoherent and Dante’s face clouds over with unmistakable rage. His gloves creak as he clenches his fists. This time in anger, not as a nervous gesture. 

“Are you alright Sister?” he asks without ever taking his eyes off Validus. 

“I-I am now Cardinal, thank you,” your voice comes out in a harsh rasp. You press yourself tightly against Dante’s back. Surely he can feel you shaking, but he says nothing. 

“If I ever see, or hear of you treating a Sister of Sin in such a way, it’ll be the last thing you do here,” Dante glances towards you and his face darkens. “And if you ever lay another hand on Sister Desiderata, it will be the last thing you do, ever. I will personally see to it and that is a promise, not a threat.” 

Brother Validus gapes at Cardinal Copia, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. He hadn’t expected your Cardinal to act in such a way. 

“Do I make myself clear Brother Validus?”

He snaps out of his daze and nods at Dante. 

“I can’t hear you.”

“Yes Cardinal Copia,” Validus finally utters. 

“Good, now get out of my sight,” Dante waves his hand dismissively. 

Validus brushes past the both of you, his shoulder roughly slamming into Dante as he passes. Your Cardinal doesn’t say anything, he just watches as Validus disappears down the corridor. Dante mutters something under his breath but you can’t quite catch what he says. 

He turns around and takes you into his arms, almost crushing you to his chest. Before you can stop yourself, you're sobbing and clutching tightly to him. Validus had come so close to ending your life that you couldn’t quite comprehend it. Nothing that had just happened to you felt real. The only thing that felt real was Dante’s arms around you. Why were you always so goddamn frail? That thought just makes you sob harder. 

“Little Princess,” he whispers. “Come into the light and let me see you.”

You let him guide you further down the hall to the next light. You clutch tightly onto his cassock as he lifts your head to inspect the damage. He’s as gentle as possible as he tilts your head to different angles to get a better look at your neck. 

“There will be bruises cara mia, we should go to the nurse. They will know better what to look for to make sure you will be alright physically.”

“I-It isn’t too bad,” you lie. Even swallowing stings painfully. You can’t look at him, you’re overwhelmed with shame. 

He looks down at you in shock, like he can’t believe what you just said. He runs his thumb under your eye and catches the tear that was threatening to fall. 

“You’re always brushing my tears away,” you don’t mean for it to sound as melancholy as it does. “Aren’t you sick of it?”

He shakes his head, “not at all, and I never will be. When it’s my time to cry, I know that you will do the same for me.” 

You nod at him, but trusting your voice. 

“We also need to tell either Sister Imperator or the Third. Validus should have never laid hands on you and I will not let this go unpunished.” His tone is firm, but his hand rubbing your back is gentle as always. 

“S-Sister Imperator,” you stutter. “Papa has a temper. Validus needs to be punished, not killed.” 

“He needs to be removed from the grounds, by force if necessary,” Dante snarls. He’s madder about the situation than you are. 

“If I was thrown out after my first violent outburst I never would have met you,” you rasp. “We have the three strike system for that reason.”

“He doesn’t deserve your compassion cara mia,” Dante sighs. 

“Maybe he doesn’t,” you agree. “But for Eli’s sake maybe he does?”

Dante nods, but the look on his face hardens, “of course it is your choice my Princess. All I want is for you to be safe,” his voice takes on a tone you’ve never heard before. “If I hadn’t come along when I did, who knows what could have happened to you?”

You look up just in time to catch him blinking a tear away. You nuzzle your face into his chest, your fingers clutching tightly at his cassock. “I don’t want to think about it.”

“It’s all that I can think about,” he sighs. Dante rubs soothing circles on your back. “We’ll go to Sister Imperator, she can have the final decision. If you don’t want it, then I won’t suggest expulsion. But I will be keeping a close eye on him.” 

You nod in agreement, “come with me?” 

“Of course Princess, you think that I would leave you alone after that?” 

He takes hold of your hand and leads you through the corridors and staircases until you’re outside of Sister Imperator’s office. He never drops your hand even though you pass multiple Siblings on the way. They can all see that you’ve been crying, but not one of them dares interrupt a Cardinal on a mission. Let the rumours fly, for the first in a long time, you’ve got someone who cares about you. 

Dante knocks on the heavy wooden door. It’s not his usual timid knock, he’s like a different person right now. You don’t know what to think or do, so you just stay close to him, clutching to safety. 

“Enter!” Sister Imperator sounds full of authority as usual. It’s enough to make you run for the hills, but Dante keeps you grounded. 

Your Cardinal opens the door and enters first. He gives your hand a gentle squeeze before pulling you gently into the room behind him. 

Sister Imperator watches silently as you enter the room. She’s always intimidated you, but you’ve always been able to hide it before. However, now you’re practically shaking as you cling to your Cardinal. She must think you’re terribly improper. Just another strike against you by someone else you should be trying to impress.   
“Ah, Cardinal, Sister, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” She doesn’t sound like your company is pleasurable. 

Dante leads you further into the room and motions for you to take a seat in the only available chair, “something very serious Sister. We would not be bothering you at this time otherwise.”

She nods, waiting for one of you to continue. Her hands are steepled under her chin. You feel Dante let go of your hand as he circles around behind your chair. His hands rest on your shoulders instead. Every fibre of your being wants to snatch his hand back into yours, but you can’t. 

“Sister Desiderata was attacked by one of the Brothers,” his tone is cold. “I found him with his hands around her throat, holding her against the wall.”

Sister Imperator remains silent, eyes wandering between you and your Cardinal. “This was not consensual?”

You go to shake your head, but the sudden movement makes you wince. “No,” you manage to croak. “Not with him.”

Sister Imperator stands up and comes to a stop in front of you. She cups your chin in her fingers as she inspects the damage in much the same way that Dante had. “Fetch a nurse for me Cardinal. This needs to be looked at properly.” 

She must have seen the colour drain from your face when she suggested that Dante leave you alone with her. “Relax child, you are safe here.”

Dante gives your shoulders a gentle squeeze for reassurance then darts off to find a suitable nurse. You can only hope that he remembers the way over to the hospital wing. He does sometimes have the terrible luck of getting lost.

The door slams shut behind him and it makes you jump. You know that your leg is bouncing up and down, but you can’t make it stop. You don’t know what to say to Sister Imperator, you’ve only ever been in her presence when she is delivering bad news, or reprimanding you. It has been a long time since it was the latter, but she could still strike fear right into your very core with the simplest of looks. 

“Tell me everything Sister Desiderata,” she leans back against her desk, arms folded across her chest. 

“I was going to Cardinal Copia’s room to spend the night,” you look away from her. Her stare is too intense. “One of the lights is out, so I didn’t see him come up behind me. He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me onto the ground. I managed to get back up again, but he grabbed my throat and kept me pinned against the wall. He kept squeezing, tighter and tighter,” it was hard to speak. Your mind is still processing everything that has happened. Without Dante around, you don’t have anything to hold onto. You take a deep breath and continue, “If Dan- I mean the Cardinal, hadn’t come by when he did, I think he would have killed me.” 

“Who?” she asks.

“Brother Validus,” you whisper his name. You can feel your eyes begin to fill with tears. 

Sister Imperator lets out a sigh, “he has been getting worse.”

Before she can say any more, Dante bursts back into the room with a nurse following closely behind. The nurse is young, and she looks stunned that Cardinal Copia has led her straight to the ever-intimidating Sister Imperator. 

“Thank you for coming at such short notice Sister Malacus,” Sister Imperator greets her. She looks more nervous about being in the room than you do.

“O-Of course Sister Imperator. How may I be of assistance?” 

“Examine Sister Desiderata’s neck, she was attacked earlier and we need to make sure that no serious damage has been done.”

The nurse kneels down in front of you and prods as gently as possible at your neck. You can tell that she is trying to be gentle, but it still hurts. She moves quickly and methodically, taking a mental catalogue of your injuries, but she still hasn’t spoken. The quieter she is, the more unnerving it gets.

“Well? Your Cardinal asks, “does she need to go to the hospital?”

Sister Malacus shakes her head. “There will be a lot of bruising, definitely some difficulty swallowing and talking as the swelling continues to go up, but there are no life threatening injuries. If you start feeling dizzy or have any loss of feeling in your body, then that is a cause for concern. However, as you are now, there is no need to go to a hospital.”

Dante frowns a little, “if swallowing will be painful, should she only eat soft food?”

The Sister looks a little shocked. She probably hasn’t heard the Cardinal speak this much ever before. “Sure, things like soups and yoghurts would be best.” 

“Thank you Sister, you are dismissed,” Sister Imperator declares. 

When the door finally shuts behind her, you feel Dante move closer to you. He places his hands back on your shoulders and gives them a gentle squeeze. 

“What do you want done about Brother Validus?” she directs her question solely to you. “An assault like this must be taken seriously. It would not take much to convince the Third to expel him.”

“I don’t want him expelled,” you say. Behind you, Dante grunts his disapproval. 

Sister Imperator doesn’t say anything, she just raises an eyebrow at you in question. 

“I don’t want him to go unpunished, but to tell you the truth, I think expelling him would do more harm than anything else. If he was forced to leave, he would take Sister Redemptio with him. They would both have nothing. If he got violent with me, I can imagine that he would do the same to her. He needs to talk to someone about his anger and jealousy issues.”

“You’re doing this for the sake of a friend?”

You shake your head, “She isn’t my friend any longer. We haven’t spoken in months.”

Sister Imperator sighs, “we can only force him to see a therapist, we can’t force him to work through any of his issues. If he is unwilling to accept help, we will have no choice but to expel him. Regardless of what other unintended consequences there may be. I won’t have a dangerous person running around here.”

You want to protest, you don’t want Eli to be forced to leave just because of him. But again, she had to make her own choices. “Of course Sister Imperator. Thank you for being so understanding.”

“I suppose that everyone deserves a chance to change themselves for the better. But I’ll be keeping a very close eye on him.”

“As will I,” Dante agrees. 

Sister Imperator pulls out a notebook and begins writing in it. “I’ll have a word with Brother Validus tomorrow. If there is nothing else to discuss, then you are both dismissed.”

You shake your head, there is nothing else to be said. It hurts to even swallow. All you want to do is crawl into bed and sleep. 

Dante offers you his hand and helps you to your feet. You expect him to let go once you leave Sister Imperator’s office, but he keeps your hand firmly in his. Neither of you speak as you make your way back to his room. 

“I’ll understand if you don’t want to follow our original plans for the night. However, if you still want to spend the night you’re more than welcome to.” 

“Can we just cuddle?” you can’t help but feel pathetic when you ask. Tonight was supposed to be full of x-rated fun, but the mood was completely gone. 

“Of course we can just cuddle cara mia. Would you like to borrow some pyjamas? I have some soft, warm flannel ones, or some nice silky ones. Whichever you prefer, it’s all yours.”

You smile weakly at him, “flannel please.”

He hands you the pyjamas and you make your way to the bathroom. There has always been more to your relationship than just sex, but you’ve never stayed over in his room without having it first and the promise of having it again later. This was a new step for the both of you and to be honest, it was making you feel nervous. 

He’s never seen you without at least some makeup on. You’ve never seen what’s under the black circles painted around his eyes. Sure your makeup has smudged before, as has his, but you always took separate showers in the morning because his bathroom is far too small for an attempt at romantic endeavours. It’s not like you think that you are ugly, but you’ve never been all that confident in your looks. Most people are insecure, you’re no different. Dante hasn’t seen the completely stripped version of you. It feels like taking your mask off all over again. 

You wipe off your black eye makeup and your foundation. There isn’t any going back now. You don’t want to go backwards anyway. Dante is your way forward. 

You slip out of your clothes and into the flannel shirt of the pyjamas that he has given you. It comes down to just above your knees, so you don’t bother putting on the trousers. When you come back into the bedroom, Dante has already stipped off his many layers and is sitting on the edge of his bed, just in his undershirt and boxers. If he notices that you aren’t wearing your makeup, he doesn’t say anything. He just stands up and pulls the bedcovers back for you. You slip into his nice, warm bed and he makes his way to the bathroom. 

In the low light of the bedside lamp, you start to feel fear creeping through you. Your mind finally has the chance to process just how close Brother Validus had been to causing permanent damage to you, or even killing you. Maybe you were being too kind in asking Sister Imperator to give him another chance. You don’t think that Dante understands it either, but as always he respects your decisions and never pushes. You’d explain things to him better another day. You’ve already told him about your father, but you still haven’t told him why you had to run away. Or what happened to you after that. He has already told you so much about himself, you should be more open with him. But would he still want to be with you if he knew everything? It had put other partners off in the past. But he isn’t like any of them, he is one of a kind. 

“Are you alright Princess?” There was so much going on in your head that you don’t even notice that Dante is standing right in front of you. come back into the room. 

You snap out of your daze and look up at him, “just daydreaming, that’s all.”

He crosses to the other side of the room and slides into bed beside you. That’s when you finally see it, the dark circles under his eyes. They look like bruises, like someone has broken his nose and given him two black eyes recently. 

You reach out and touch the dark circles under his eyes. Running the tips of your fingers over the marks just in case they hurt. 

He closes his eyes and leans into your touch, “I was born like this. For as long as I can remember I have had these mismatched eyes and these bruises. My father didn’t look like this, he was normal and I have no idea what my mother looked like. People used to say that I was cursed because of my looks. They used to keep their children away from me, lest it be contagious.”

“Oh darling,” you rest your forehead against his. You don’t know what to say, so you just keep him close. 

“It was a different time, I know that I still frighten people, but they are much better at hiding it now.”

“You don’t frighten me and you never have,” you kiss him.

“There is still time little Princess,” he returns your kiss. Before you get a chance to protest, he changes the subject. “We should get some sleep now. It’s been a difficult day for you.”

“That might just be the understatement of the year,” you shuffle down slightly in the bed so that you can use his chest as a pillow. He turns out the light and in a matter of minutes you fall asleep listening to the steady rhythm of his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but here it is!
> 
> Pls feed me with comments <3


	25. Chapter 25

It’s far later than it should be by the time that you finally wake up. You’re alone in Dante’s room and it’s already past lunch time. You should be panicking, but all you feel is relieved. You know that your neck will be terribly bruised and you don’t feel like defending yourself against unwanted rumours and stares. Dante would have woken you up if he needed you urgently today. You feel bad about skipping out on work when you don't really have a good enough reason to - your hands work after all, you don’t necessarily need to speak in order to do your job. You haul yourself out of bed and go to the bathroom, forever grateful that you left a spare toothbrush in his room. As you brush your teeth, you can’t tear your eyes away from the damage that has been done to your neck. You can see the bruises left by Brother Validus’s fingers. The bruises are darkest where his fingertips have been. Sister Malacus had been correct, apart from the bruising and difficulty swallowing, there aren’t any other problems. Hopefully the bruising would clear up quickly, as it is now, you don’t have any makeup that would do a good job of covering them up. You would have to dig around for your turtleneck sweater. The only problem with the sweater is that it has what you call a ‘boob window’ and you aren’t too sure how Dante would handle something like that. He would probably complain that it isn’t appropriate for work hours, but then be unable to take his eyes off the flesh it reveals. 

The door to Dante’s room creaks open and from the bathroom you can see him shuffle into the room carrying a tray of food. He’s struggling a little to keep everything balanced as he closes the door behind him.

“Do you need some help?” you ask. Your voice comes out in a harsh croak. 

“No, no, it is fine,” he replies. “You should be in bed Gabriel,” he places the tray on the bedside table. “I brought you some lunch. Nice soft potato soup and chocolate flavoured yoghurt. Is there anything else you want?”

You cross the room and throw your arms around him, nuzzling into his neck, “no, you’ve done more than enough for me.”

“How do you feel? How is your throat?” his fingers are gentle as he inspects the dark bruises.

“It hurts a little to swallow, but it isn’t as bad as I thought that it would be.”

“I’m glad,” his arms wrap around you, but they aren’t as tight as they normally are. As if he is worried about hurting you. “I would have woken you before I left, but I thought that you could use at least a few extra hours of sleep.”

“Not gonna lie, I did enjoy the extra sleep. But after lunch I’ll be ready to get back to work. Were you alright without me this morning?”

Dante smiles down at you, “I missed you of course, but there wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. As for the rest of the day, don’t worry about it. I’m taking it off as well.” 

“How come?”

“I have some good news,” he says.

“What kind of good news?”

“Sister Imperator gave the basement room to me as well as a nice little bonus to help me furnish the room.”

“That’s wonderful darling!” he was finally getting what he deserves. 

“I was hoping that you could help me look on the internet for suitable furniture. You’re so much better at computer stuff than I am.”

“Sure, just let me get comfortable,” you step out of his arms and climb back into bed. You sit cross-legged and pull the covers up over your lower half. His room was a little colder than you want to be right now. You grab the tray of food off the table and place it in front of you. The smell of the soup makes your mouth water. 

While Dante searches for his ancient and rather clunky laptop, you start on the potato soup. It’s the perfect temperature and it tastes delicious. Dante climbs onto the bed next to you and plugs his laptop charger into the wall. It takes forever to start up and when it does you notice that he only has Internet Explorer as his web browser. 

“How do you like the soup?” he asks.

“It’s delicious, whoever made it should be given a raise.” You aren’t joking. It may be something simple, but it was really, really good.

Dante gives you a shy smile, “I’m glad that you like it Princess, the Sisters in the kitchen gave me some ingredients and space to make it for you.”

“You made this for me?” you don’t mean to sound that shocked, but you can’t help it. You kind of thought that he was joking when he said that he would cook dinner for you when he got to move into the bigger room. 

He just nods, a smug smile on his face.

“The next time I get sick, you have to promise to make this for me. You don’t have to nurse me back to health or anything like that, just make this for me.”

Dante shakes his head, “ if you ever get sick little Princess, I will nurse you back to health and make you anything you want to eat.”

“You’re setting the bar very high there, I’m absolutely useless when it comes to looking after sick people.”

“I don’t get sick, I have a very strong immune system.”

“Everyone gets sick sooner or later.”

“Not me,” he says with a shrug. “But anyways, do you know any good furniture websites?”

“The first thing you need to do is download something other than Internet Explorer, it’s a terrible browser.”

He frowns at you, “cara mia, you know I don’t do computers very well.”

You finish up your soup and pick up the pottle of chocolate yoghurt, “sorry. Here, let me do it.” You lean over, half draping yourself across his lap. He gives up control of the laptop to you and you download Chrome instead. He watches everything that you do, but you aren’t sure if he is really paying all that much attention. Dante prefers books and hand-written transcripts to using a computer. It’s something that you’ll slowly have to force him into. You don’t want him being like so many of the other Cardinals who are so technologically stuck in the past. Cardinal Downs had been much the same, he would write out pages upon pages of hand-written documents and then you would have to type them up so that they could be distributed to the rest of the clergy. It had been time consuming to say the least and a pain in your ass to be polite. 

“There are a couple of chain furniture stores that have websites. One is slightly cheaper than the other, but as far as I’ve heard, they both have good quality stuff.” 

“Let’s go with the cheaper one for now eh?”

You open up the website as you finish off the rest of your yoghurt. “Do you know what you need?”

“Bookshelves, lots of bookshelves,” he begins. 

“I should have guessed that,” you gently nudge him. “Casting couch?”

He nudges you back, “something like that I would like to try before I buy. We have to make sure that it is comfortable for the both of us first. Same with the bed.” 

“I don’t think the store owner would appreciate us getting busy on his merchandise like that,” you giggle as his expression changes.

He shakes his head at you, “such a sinful thing you are. But I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want to see how good you would look lying naked against a black leather couch.”

“I’ll pose for you whenever you want darling,” you give his thigh a squeeze and he lets out a small whimpering moan. 

He clears his throat loudly in an attempt to distract from his moan, “dangerous territory,” he mutters. “I’ll also need a normal sized fridge and a smaller wine fridge. I need somewhere nice to put all of the wine I ordered last Friday.”

You sit back against the headboard with the laptop on your lap and begin searching for the things that he had mentioned. Every so often he comes across a piece of furniture that he likes and makes you save it onto a wishlist. With anyone else, this would be tedious, but with Dante’s arm around your shoulder and his head resting against yours, it was actually rather enjoyable. After about half an hour he had decided upon the bookcases that he wanted. They were incredibly tall and made out of dark wood. It was flat pack furniture, so while delivery would be cheaper, assembly would probably cause more than a few swearwords. He was much pickier when it came to choosing his fridge and his wine fridge, but in the end he settled on something that wasn’t too expensive. 

“I had no idea that you could do so much with the internet,” Dante says, a tone of disbelief in his voice. “It is quite amazing.”

“When was the last time you used the internet?”

“You know me cara mia,” he sighs, waving his hand dismissively. “I only use this thing for emails.” 

You lean close to his ear and whisper, “there is free porn on the internet.”

“Really?” his voice rises by a few octaves. 

“Yep, pretty much anything you can imagine is somewhere on the internet.”

His eyes are wide, “that sounds wonderful and terrifying at the same time.”

“Oh trust me, it is,” you giggle at his expression. “I’ll never be the same after ‘two girls one cup’.”

“In a good way?”

“Decidedly not.”

“Should I ask?”

“Not if you want to keep your sanity.”

“Honestly Princess, you know that this is just making me more curious.”

“That’s how it got me! There is plenty of other stuff on the internet too, not just free boobies. There are entire libraries and academic resources there too.”

“Now that sounds more like my thing.”

“Remind me tomorrow, I’ll show you all the good stuff.”

He looks a little nervous, “I’m not good with computers. I always seem to break something.”

“I’ll help you out, don’t worry. You’re always so patient with teaching me things, it’s only fair that I teach you something in return.”

“You’ve taught me plenty already,” he gives you a wink. “You’re like a whole new world Princess.”

You blush and pull him closer. You press your lips against his and kiss him softly. He returns the kiss, but before things can go much further, he forces himself to break away. 

Dante rests his forehead against yours, “you are injured cara mia. Besides, I have something important to ask you.” 

“What do you need darling?”

“It is not so much of a need as it is a want.” His gloves creak as he twists his fingers together nervously. You had hoped that he wouldn’t be so shy around you anymore, but apparently that wasn’t the case. 

“What do you need?”

“It will sound a little stupid.”

“Nothing that comes out of your mouth is stupid darling,” you place your hands over the top of his. He seems to calm down a little. 

“Last Friday, when we went to lunch with Jessica and the ghouls, something important struck me. You know, I have never taken you out on a date.”

“You are a very busy guy. Besides,” you pause, “you don’t need to take me out on a date to win me over, you already have me.”

“I call you my Princess, I should treat you like one,” his tone is firm.

“You already take good care of me,” you lean over and kiss his cheek. “Unless you’ve forgotten how many times you’ve already saved my ass.”

“I want to take you out on a date,” he says, like he hasn’t heard a word you just said.

“I’m ready whenever you are,” you pause again. “But maybe we should wait until I don’t have giant bruises all across my neck. I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about us.”

Dante studies your neck and nods in agreement. “How about we go on a date two weeks from now? Your neck should be nice and healed by then.”

“It’s a date,” you wink at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is a little shorter than usual, and rather fluffy.   
> As usual, please feed me with comments!


End file.
